McDonald’s Claims Beef Not Source Of E. Coli Outbreak After Tests

Source: NurPhoto / Getty

The Fast Food Giant Will Keep One Of Their Most Popular Items On The Menu

An E. coli outbreak spanning 13 US states had many wondering if McDonald’s would remove its famed Quarter Pounder burgers from the menu.

The fast-food giant released a statement Sunday claiming that that in fact wouldn’t be necessary.

FOX 8 reports that at least 75 people have fallen ill after consuming McDonald’s over the last few weeks. 22 of those infected have been hospitalized, and there’s been at least one death.

Get Breaking News & Exclusive Content in Your Inbox:

But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says that it isn’t the beef that’s bad. It’s the slivered onions.

Over the next week McDonald’s states that they’ll continue to sell the burger at infected restaurants, just minus the onions, which they stress have come from a single supplier.

From FOX 8:

Early information analyzed by the FDA showed that uncooked slivered onions used on the burgers “are a likely source of contamination,” the agency said. 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.

Testing by the Colorado Department of Agriculture ruled out beef patties as the source of the outbreak, McDonald’s said.

Cardi B Faces Backlash for Criticizing American Fast Food as Unhealthy

900 McDonald’s restaurants accept orders from Taylor Farms’ Colorado Springs, the supplier of the onions.

The infected states are as follows:

Colorado – 26 cases
Montana – 13 cases
Nebraska – 11 cases
New Mexico, Utah – 5 cases
Missouri, Wyoming – 4 cases
Michigan – 2 cases
Iowa, Kansas, Oregon, Wisconsin, Washington – 1 case

All of these numbers have been tracked and reported by the CDC.

Symptoms of E. coli poisoning can show up 1 to 2 days after eating infected food. These symptoms include “fever, vomiting, diarrhea or bloody diarrhea and signs of dehydration — little or no peeing, increased thirst and dizziness.”

%%title%%