Three officials from a burger patty supplier for McDonald’s Korea were given suspended prison sentences by a local court Tuesday for providing patties potentially contaminated with E. coli to the local unit of the global fast-food giant.
A managing director of the supplier, whose name was withheld, and two mid-ranking officials in charge of production and quality management, respectively, were indicted without detention in 2018 for allegedly distributing 63 tons of beef patties that tested positive for intestinal hemorrhagic E. coli contamination.
In addition, they were charged with selling 2,160 tons of beef patties with Shiga toxin genes detected in a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test, a test method that amplifies DNA. Shiga toxin is a toxin component released from intestinal hemorrhagic E. coli.
The Seoul Central District Court convicted all three for violating the Livestock Products Sanitary Control Act but handed out suspended jail terms ranging from two to three years.
FoodWorld 