In the wake of a recent outbreak of E. coli infections connected to many McDonald’s restaurants in the region, news surfaced that two popular Estes Park eateries were temporarily shut down in the past month by the Larimer County Department of Health and Environment for violations. Neither restaurant had issues with E. coli as a reason for being closed.

Ed’s Cantina was shut down on Sept. 25 during a routine health department inspection. The
restaurant was allowed to reopen on Sept. 27, and it passed a required reinspection on Oct. 16.

Ed's Catina
Ed’s Catina and Grill was closed by the Larimer County Department of Health and Environment in September. The restaurant received praise from inspectors upon the reinspection for doing a good job to mitigate the issues. Credit: Patti Brown / Estes Valley Voice

Bird and Jim’s Restaurant was shut down on Oct. 23 and was allowed to reopen on Oct. 24
after making immediate corrections to the violations. The restaurant has not yet had its required reinspection, a process which will take place seven to ten days after the initial routine inspection.

Bird and Jim’s was also close by the Larimer County Department of Health and Environment. It was allowed to reopen the next day. It has not had its reinspection. Credit: Patti Brown / Estes Valley Voice

According to Nicole Aguilar, program manager for consumer protection for the LCDHE, during a routine inspection a retail food establishment is graded on 56 indices. A rating sale is used to determine if the business is in or out of compliance on things such as the good hygiene practices of staff members, the proper temperature for food storage, the proper use of utensils, working plumbing, available hot and cold water, adequate water pressure, and adequate ventilation and lighting.

The higher the score, the more serious the violations. A routine inspection also looks at whether a problem can be corrected on the spot during the inspection and if there are repeated violations of the same issue.

A passing score is 49 or fewer points. Reinspection is required if an establishment scores
between 50 and 109 points, and if more than 110 points are scored, the retail food
establishment is immediately shut down.

The inspectors can also shut down a retail food establishment immediately because of a high score in certain areas even if the score is under 109, or because of an imminent health hazard, however the number of points awarded in an inspection are not included in the report which is available for the public to review.

Aguilar said the decision to include the points on an inspection report is being debated at the state level because the numerical point system is not necessarily the most accurate way to measure the severity of a compliance problem.

Inspectors are not “food cops,” Aguilar said. Instead, they train to approach their job as a
partnership to help restaurants succeed. “If we’re being successful, they’re being successful, and vice versa. And that’s why we always take a partnership and education approach first, even though we are regulators,” said Aguliar.

“What we’re trying to do is set our businesses up for success so that we can have sustained compliance. There are so many establishments in Larimer County we can’t be everywhere at once,” said Aguilar.

When a large corporation has a problem, like McDonald’s, they will survive, said Augilar, but a small, independent business may not be able to. “And we don’t want to see that happen to our businesses,” she said.

To date, the county’s consumer protection team has conducted 1,629 inspections of retail food establishments in 2024 which includes restaurants, grocery stores, and food trucks.

The E. coli outbreak affecting McDonald’s

The Center for Disease Control along with public health and regulatory officials in several
states, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service have been investigating the outbreak of E. coli infections traced to McDonald’s Quarter Pounder hamburgers served with raw, slivered onions.

The outbreak was first reported on Oct. 10. At this time, there have been 90 people affected in 13 states, with 27 hospitalizations. Two people have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, including a 15-year-old girl from Mesa County who has undergone dialysis,

Information from public health officials indicates that the source of the outbreak appears to be connected to sliced onions that were supplied by Taylor Farms in Colorado Springs. The
company, which packages salads and vegetable kits for retail and commercial buyers, initiated a recall of its onions on Oct. 22.

McDonalds’s pulled its quarter pound beef patties when the outbreak was first identified, but after the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service issued a
statement regarding its investigation that beef was not the source of the outbreak, the restaurant chain said it would begin selling the sandwich this week without onions. As of today, the Estes Park McDonald’s is not serving the quarter pound beef patties, however double cheeseburgers are available.

E. coli is a group of bacteria that can cause infections in the stomach, urinary tract and other parts of the body.  Between five to ten percent of people infected by E. coli develop hemolytic uremic syndrome, a potentially life-threatening kidney failure complication. The symptoms can include fever, abdominal pain, tiredness, decreased frequency of urination, small unexplained bruises or bleeding, and pallor.