👉 Background: McDonald's aka Maccy D aka the land of the McFlurry has been slinging burgers and fries to billions of people since 1940. Today it's got over 36,000 restaurants in over 100 countries.

👉 What happened: McDonald's share price has taken a 7% tumble after an E. coli outbreak linked to their burgers in the US. They reckon it's from either the beef or the onions in the Quarter Pounder burgers.

👉 What else: There have been more than 75 cases of the infection including one death. Investors were spooked, especially as McDonalds has already been struggling with declining sales, so this outbreak couldn't have come at a worse time.

What's the key learning?

💡In the hospitality industry, one big food mistake can leave a very bad taste in the mouth of investors and customers.

💡Maccas not only faces brand and reputational risk, but also significant financial risk especially after one of the affected customer has already sued Maccas for $50,000 USD for negligence. It's now scrambling to reassure investors and customers before the damage worsens.

💡That's what happened in 2015 with US fast food Mexican chain Chipotle. it had an E. coli outbreak and lost over 20% in sales and 45% of its share price. Chipotle has bounced back from the E.coli debacle since, but it took years to rebuild trust with customers.