Talk:1992–1993 Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak

Confusing Intro

did 50,000 children die, or 4?

Untitled

It's too bad that there are so few links to the discovery articles in the mid-1990's. At least one article described conditions at a meat contractor so sickening that other employees would leave the job site when the team that worked the Foodmaker ground beef contract arrived. So much of the article seems to blame Jack in the Box. 71.243.209.204 (talk) 08:31, 22 September 2015 (UTC)

Dates need to be fixed, article needs to be renamed

First off, even with the current dates, it started in 1992, and should thereby be titled 1992-1993 Jack et cetera.

Secondly, it didn't start on the 28th of December when Rudolph died. She first got visibly ill on the 18th/19th of December, and thusly could have gotten infected as early as the 10th of December. and while she was the first notable case, it's unlikely she was the first, especially since the source seems to be a spike in demand following the Monster Burger.

You'd have to do a decent bit of research to get the exact patient zero, but I would not be surprised if infections started as early as October, though mid November seems more likely. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 206.174.216.170 (talk) 20:25, 25 May 2021 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Plagues and People

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 22 August 2023 and 11 December 2023. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Shy.Mancha13, Skoodles, CrazELearning (article contribs). Peer reviewers: Cececason, Ngo0014, Nanggoo.

— Assignment last updated by Maxwellmcgowan (talk) 20:37, 26 October 2023 (UTC)

Proposed improvements to the Lawsuits section – COI disclosure

I am an independent contractor hired by Marler Clark to help improve Wikipedia coverage of food safety topics. I have a clear conflict of interest and have disclosed it on my user page. Per WP:COI and paid-contribution disclosure rules, I am proposing these changes on the Talk page rather than making bold edits. I welcome feedback from other editors.

The current "Lawsuits" section is a good start but has a tag and relies partly on primary or self-published sources. I propose a modest, neutral expansion and sourcing improvement that adds encyclopedic detail about the legal aftermath without giving undue weight to any individual.

Proposed revised Lawsuits section (replace the existing one):

Lawsuits

Attorney William Marler represented several victims of the outbreak. In one high-profile case, he represented nine-year-old Brianne Kiner, who suffered severe complications including a 42-day coma and long-term health effects. In 1995, Marler secured a $15.6 million structured settlement for Kiner — at the time one of the largest individual personal-injury awards related to foodborne illness.

Marler also represented hundreds of other victims in claims against Jack in the Box and its parent company Foodmaker. These cases resulted in total settlements reported to exceed $50 million, which was described at the time as the largest payout related to a foodborne-illness outbreak in U.S. history.

Victims of the outbreak also filed suits against Foodmaker Inc. (the parent company) and the meat suppliers. Foodmaker ultimately received a $58.5 million settlement from its beef suppliers in 1998 to resolve its own claims related to the contaminated meat. Jack in the Box publicly expressed sympathy for the victims and offered to pay hospital bills, while also facing criticism for initially shifting blame to suppliers and for not following stricter state cooking-temperature requirements.

These changes replace weaker citations with independent or well-established secondary sources, remove the tag, and keep the focus on the broader legal and corporate response.

I have kept the addition concise and proportional to the rest of the article. Please let me know your thoughts or if you would like any adjustments. I am happy to revise based on feedback.

--Jonan.pilet (talk) ~~~~ Jonan.pilet (talk) 16:32, 17 March 2026 (UTC)