Los Angeles: McDonald's announced on Sunday that Quarter Pounders will again be on its menu at hundreds of its restaurants after testing ruled out beef patties as the source of the outbreak of E. coli poisoning tied to the popular burgers that killed one person and sickened at least 75 others across 13 states. The US Food and Drug Administration continues to believe that slivered onions from a single supplier are the likely source of contamination, McDonald's said in a statement. It said it will resume selling the Quarter Pounder at affected restaurants without slivered onions in the coming week.
As of Friday, the outbreak had expanded to at least 75 people sick in 13 states, federal health officials said. A total of 22 people had been hospitalised, and two developed a dangerous kidney disease complication, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said. One person has died in Colorado. Early information analysed by the FDA showed that uncooked slivered onions used on the burgers “are a likely source of contamination”, the agency said.
READ: McDonald's E. coli outbreak increases as 75 people infected in 13 states in US
McDonald's has confirmed that Taylor Farms, a California-based produce company, was the supplier of the fresh onions used in the restaurants involved in the outbreak, and that they had come from a facility in Colorado Springs, Colorado. McDonald's pulled the Quarter Pounder burger from menus in several states, mostly in the Midwest and Mountain states, when the outbreak was announced on Tuesday.
McDonald's removed slivered onions
McDonald's said on Friday that slivered onions from the Colorado Springs facility were distributed to approximately 900 of its restaurants, including some in transportation hubs like airports. The company said it removed slivered onions sourced from that facility from its supply chain on Tuesday. McDonald's said it has decided to stop sourcing onions from Taylor Farms' Colorado Springs facility “indefinitely”. The 900 McDonald's restaurants that normally received slivered onions from Taylor Farms' Colorado Springs facility will resume sales of Quarter Pounders without slivered onions, McDonald's said.
Testing by the Colorado Department of Agriculture ruled out beef patties as the source of the outbreak, McDonald's said. The Department of Agriculture received multiple fresh and frozen beef patties collected from various Colorado McDonald's locations associated with the E. coli investigation. All samples were found to be negative for E. coli, the department said.
Taylor Farms- The supplier
Taylor Farms said on Friday that it had preemptively recalled yellow onions sent to its customers from its Colorado facility and continues to work with the CDC and the FDA as they investigate. While it remains unclear if the recalled onions were the source of the outbreak, several other fast-food restaurants — including Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC and Burger King — pulled onions from some menus in certain areas this week.
(With inputs from agencies)
ALSO READ: McDonald's-linked E. coli outbreak causes death, serious illness in US | All about lethal bacteria
