COLORADO, USA — Amid the E. coli outbreak linked to McDonald’s quarter-pounder, which includes speculation around the burgers' onions, the National Onion Association explained their process to ensure onions are safe.
Founded in 1913, the National Onion Association represents onion growers, shippers and packers all across the country.
“It may or may not be the onions, it may or may not be the beef,” said Greg Yielding, chief executive of the National Onion Association. “We just don't know.”
The association says they've come up with a food safety plan for growers, shippers, and packers.
“Looking at the water you’re using and making sure the water is not tainted or anything wrong with the water. Then you have to watch the cleanliness of the storage and where they’re stored, and then temperatures, dryness, and not letting a lot of moisture in,” Yielding said. “We handle everything up through the grower, shipper, packer, and then it might be shipped somewhere. They will process.”
Yielding says the skin on onions helps protect them.
“Onions are pretty safe anyway because of the skin on the onions,” Yielding said. “So until, you know, they get to the shipper, packer, and the skin is still there, and the shipper, packer ships them out in bags, you know, then they go and might be processed in various places. That's about as far as we go. Then there is a whole 'nother set of best practices for those people.”
Yielding says when it comes to the onions you're buying from the store, they're safe, because if they were not, the issues would be more widespread.
“If that was the case, then people would be getting sick that way,” Yielding said.
Questions still linger about what's at the root of the McDonald’s E. coli outbreak.
“No one wants to get anyone sick, and no one wants to deal with the repercussions of that,” Yielding said.
As of Wednesday, the CDC has reported 49 cases of E. coli across the country, 26 of those in Colorado, and one death in the state.