An E. coli outbreak linked to slivered onions served with McDonald’s Quarter Pounder burgers has sickened at least 104 people across the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported on Wednesday. The outbreak has led to 34 hospitalizations, and one death. The CDC emphasized that the outbreak is no longer a concern for food safety, as McDonald’s has resumed sales of its Quarter Pounders following the removal of the affected onions from its supply chain.
According to the CDC’s latest update, the number of reported cases has risen from 90 to 104, with hospitalizations climbing from 27 to 34. Four individuals have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a potentially life-threatening kidney condition, up from two cases in the previous update. Despite these developments, the death toll remains at one.
The CDC explained that the actual number of cases could be much higher, as many people recover without seeking medical care and are not tested for E. coli. The agency’s investigation traced the source of the outbreak to slivered onions supplied by California-based food producer Taylor Farms. The onions were served with McDonald’s Quarter Pounder burgers, which most of the affected individuals had eaten before falling ill.
In its separate update, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) noted that one sample of the contaminated onions tested positive for a toxin-producing E. coli strain, but the strain did not match the one responsible for the outbreak. The FDA added that there is no ongoing food safety concern related to this incident at McDonald’s restaurants.
McDonald’s responded by removing the slivered onions from their menu and temporarily halting the sale of Quarter Pounder burgers at approximately 900 restaurants. The company later resumed selling the burgers with onions after finding an alternative supplier. “We identified an alternate supplier for the approximately 900 restaurants that had temporarily stopped serving Quarter Pounder burgers with slivered onions,” McDonald’s stated. “These restaurants have resumed serving Quarter Pounder burgers with slivered onions in the past week.”
The outbreak has taken a financial toll on McDonald’s, with the company’s CFO Ian Borden acknowledging in an earnings call that the food safety incident caused a noticeable dip in sales and customer visits. “We saw that shift to kind of having daily negative sales and guest count results since the beginning of the food safety incident,” Borden said. McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski expressed his concerns over the outbreak, stating, “We are sorry for what our customers have experienced. We offer our sincere and deepest sympathies, and we are committed to making this right.”
