Erie-area McDonald's not cited by health department for dripping blood on food packaging

A Summit Township McDonald's that served blood-stained food packaging to a customer earlier this month, and then told an Erie County Department of Health inspector that the incident did not occur, was not cited for any violations to the Pennsylvania Food Code.

The County Health Department decided not to revisit the restaurant, 7200 Peach St., after learning from the Erie Times-News that a McDonald's Corp. spokeswoman confirmed a worker had suffered a cut.

"We didn't reach out again because the customer was already being treated for her exposure and we received no other complaints," said Breanna Adams, director of environmental health services for the County Health Department. "Also, the risk to customers had been abated at that point."

The incident occurred March 9 after Elizabeth Kiddo and her friend ordered lunch for their families at the restaurant. Kiddo, a 29-year-old Bemus Point, New York, resident, noticed a red smear on the palm of her hand after sipping her Diet Coke and then licked the substance, thinking it was ketchup.

It was determined to be blood, which had been smeared onto the cup. Kiddo said she also found drops of blood on a Big Mac container, Happy Meal container and one of her receipts.

Kiddo showed McDonald's employees the blood-stained packaging. She said a shift manager later confirmed that the employee who packaged their order had a cut that was bleeding.

The incident was also confirmed by the McDonald's spokeswoman, who told the Erie Times-News that the cut was minor.

"The matter was solved with a Band-Aid," the spokeswoman said.

McDonald's staff told health inspector there was no bleeding

Kiddo reported the incident that day to the County Health Department, which sent an inspector to the restaurant on March 11.

The inspector observed the restaurant's food preparation procedures and confirmed that employees who handled food were wearing gloves, Adams said. The staff was asked about the incident and told the inspector that they did not notice anyone bleeding.

"The main thing we were looking at was their food safety training. McDonald's compliance has been good," Adams said. "We're not sure why there was this miscommunication (about the employee bleeding)."

A follow-up message left Wednesday with the McDonald's spokeswoman was not returned.

Customer taking antivirals, getting tested after exposure

Since no employee was identified and tested for blood-borne illnesses such as HIV and hepatitis, Kiddo's physician prescribed the antiviral drugs Truvada and Isentress to reduce her risk of illness.

Kiddo is also undergoing regular blood testing for at least the next six months.

More: Blood on Erie-area McDonald's items alarms diner. County Health Department investigating

Her likelihood of contracting HIV from consuming blood is extremely rare, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. Hepatitis A can be spread by an infected person improperly handling food, while hepatitis B and C are spread primarily through blood-to-blood contact.

The incident occurred about a month after a food-handling employee at Cracker Barrel, 7810 Interstate Drive, was diagnosed with hepatitis A. Customers who ate food at the Summit Township restaurant between Feb. 10 and Feb. 21 were given hepatitis A vaccines at a county Health Department clinic.

No other reported cases of hepatitis A have been connected to the Cracker Barrel employee, county health officials have said.

Health department can't force employee to get tested

The state Food Code and public health law don't give the County Health Department the power to compel an employee to get tested for bloodborne illnesses, since no signs of symptoms of illness had been reported, Adams said.

"The exposure seems very limited to the complainant's party," Adams said. "There is no reason to suspect a public health risk to other consumers during the time of this event, or at this time."

Kiddo said she has not been contacted by anyone associated with McDonald's since she reported the incident to the County Health Department.

"Throughout this whole process I have waited and hoped that (McDonald's) would do the right thing. ..." Kiddo said. "My concern is for others that may have been exposed and haven't been able to take the steps necessary to protect themselves. They minimized the severity by putting out the Band-Aid comment."

Kiddo said she had an appointment Thursday to talk with a lawyer about the incident.

Contact David Bruce at dbruce@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNBruce.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: McDonald's not cited by Erie County health department for blood dripping