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Taylor Farms can’t seem to catch a break — or keep its produce free of pathogens.
Two Colorado women, Patricia Sherrill and Meredith Sheppard, filed a lawsuit in Mesa County District Court against Taylor Farms and McDonald’s on Aug. 4 over a case of E. coli that allegedly started from a batch of slivered yellow onions back in 2024, claiming that two separate restaurants in the area gave them significantly upset stomachs. Not the kind that comes from parasites on shredded lettuce, which Taylor Farms and parts of the country are currently dealing with, but something more familiar.
Sherrill’s attorney says she ate Quarter Pounders with slivered onions from a McDonald’s location in Grand Junction on Sept. 26, Sept. 30 and Oct. 4 of 2024. She allegedly became “very sick” on Oct. 7, 2024, with diarrhea and stomach pain before being treated at a nearby hospital. According to the lawsuit, she tested positive for E. coli, Shiga toxin and Clostridium diff, all of which are known to cause severe diarrhea, stomach cramps and other forms of abdominal pain. Sherrill says she was in pain for “days” after her hospitalization, and claims to have experienced “emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life and medical expenses” from of the ordeal.
Sheppard reportedly ate burgers with added slivered onions from a store in Clifton on seven separate dates in October 2024. On Oct. 31, she allegedly developed abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea before testing positive for E. coli at a clinic and checking into a hospital in Grand Junction on Nov. 7, 2024.
She, too, says she underwent a “loss of enjoyment of life” and “economic losses” that come with the stomach-rumbling effects of E. coli.
According to the FDA, 104 people reported getting sick and 34 were hospitalized across 14 states between October and December 2024 with E. coli, with the infections linked to McDonald’s Quarter Pounders containing onions distributed by Taylor Farms. Colorado was hit the hardest, even seeing one death in Mesa County.
The FDA issued a consumer recall that fall, with Taylor Farms contacting stores directly. The FDA also reported dozens of violations at Taylor Farms’ Colorado Springs facility during an inspection after the outbreak.
By the time Taylor Farms recalled the onions, Sherrill and Sheppard had both already eaten three of Quarter Pounders apiece, they allege.
Other defendants include Mile Hi Foods, a local food distributor to McDonald’s, and King Ventures, which owns McDonald’s chains in Colorado. According to the complaint, the action of distributing and selling the onions constitutes a “product liability action,” because the plaintiffs were injured after ingesting a product that was manufactured, packaged and sold without a warning “concerning a defective and unreasonably dangerous food product.”
The lawsuit seeks compensatory relief from the four companies, claiming that both a manufacturing defect and a food product defect violated local and federal food and drug laws.
Taylor Farms did not respond to a request for comment.
This isn’t the only heat sparking beneath Taylor Farms right now. Throughout the summer, the produce distributor’s shredded iceberg lettuce has been connected to the parasitic illness, cyclosporiasis, which causes “explosive” diarrhea. Investigators with the FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said they had identified the distributor’s lettuce as a potential source of contamination in the outbreak, but later rescinded it after testing and a “false positive.” But a voluntary company-issued recall from Taylor Farms for its shredded lettuce remains in effect.
On an unrelated note: Taylor Farms donated $1 million MAGA Inc., a super PAC supporting Donald Trump, in 2025. The company also donated $850,000 to AFP Action, an anti-regulation super PAC, between 2020 and 2024.
