McDonald's is bringing back its Quarter Pounders to all restaurants this week amid an ongoing E. coli outbreak traced to ingredients in the fast food chain’s famed burger. The outbreak has sickened at least 75 people across 13 states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported Friday. One person has died.
During a media briefing on Sunday, McDonald's confirmed that the beef used in its Quarter Pounder patties is not the source of contamination in the ongoing outbreak. Testing conducted by the Colorado Department of Agriculture found that samples of the beef tested negative for E. coli, USA Today reported.
“The issue appears to be contained to a particular ingredient and geography, and we remain very confident that any contaminated product related to this outbreak has been removed from our supply chain and is out of all McDonald’s restaurants,” Cesar Piña, McDonald's Chief Supply Chain Officer, North America, said in the statement.
McDonald's Quarter Pounders will be served without slivered onions, which were supplied by California-based producer Taylor Farms. Last Thursday, Taylor Farms issued a recall for whole and diced onions over possible E. coli contamination, food service distributor US Foods announced. A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigation is currently underway at Taylor Farms’ Colorado Springs facility.
Nine hundred McDonald's restaurants across 12 states were receiving onions from Taylor Farms. McDonald’s has stopped using onions from Taylor Farms’ Colorado facility indefinitely, the company said per NPR.
Quarter Pounders without onions will return to Colorado, Kansas, Utah and Wyoming, where the burgers were removed from all McDonald’s restaurants. The menu item will also return to restaurants in parts of Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico and Oklahoma.
McDonald's has “instructed its beef suppliers to produce a fresh supply of Quarter Pounder beef for restaurants,” USA Today reported.
As of Oct. 25, 22 individuals have been hospitalized — including two people who developed severe kidney complications — after consuming Quarter Pounder hamburgers that contained slivered onions from Taylor Farms. The CDC previously reported 49 illnesses across 10 states. That number quickly went up to 75 illnesses across 13 states.
The illnesses were reported between Sept. 27 and Oct. 11. Colorado currently has the most cases at 27, followed by Montana with 13 and Nebraska with 11. The remaining states reported five illnesses or fewer.
The CDC said the number of total cases linked to the ongoing outbreak is probably much higher than reported. This is because some consumers may not show immediate symptoms or require medical attention after falling sick. The number of states affected by the outbreak is also expected to grow.
Last week, McDonald’s said it will temporarily remove the Quarter Pounder from restaurants in the affected states.
“We are working in close partnership with our suppliers to replenish supply for the Quarter Pounder in the coming weeks,” Piña said in a Tuesday statement, per NPR. “In the meantime, all other menu items, including other beef products (including the Cheeseburger, Hamburger, Big Mac, McDouble and the Double Cheeseburger) are unaffected and available.”
Three lawsuits have been filed against McDonald’s in relation to the E. coli outbreak. The first lawsuit was filed just one day after the CDC issued a food safety alert concerning the Quarter Pounder.
More lawsuits are expected to be filed soon.
