McDonald's Quarter Pounder beef patties not linked to E. coli outbreak, company says
All contaminated products related to the E. coli outbreak that sickened 75 people across 13 states, with one reported fatality, are now fully out of McDonald's restaurants, the company said in a statement Sunday.
"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," a McDonald's spokesperson said.
The E. coli infections, first reported on Sept. 27 in Colorado, were linked to the recent consumption of Quarter Pounder hamburgers. The Food and Drug Administration, one of several authorities investigating the outbreak, has said that the slivered onions on the burgers are a "likely source of contamination."
McDonald's confirmed in a statement to ABC News that Taylor Farms is the supplier of the onions and said that it had stopped using them as of Oct. 22.
"CDC noted that our proactive steps resulted in the risk to the public being 'very low,'" McDonald's said in the statement, adding it's "a reminder of how our values must guide us every single day: we put people first, and we do the right thing."
Currently, there have been 26 reported cases in Colorado, which remains the most impacted state, and 13 in Montana. Other cases have been reported in Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Of the 61 sickened during the outbreak on whom the CDC has information, 22 were hospitalized, and two developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a serious, potentially fatal complication that can cause kidney failure, according to the CDC.
"We are committed to making this right for any customers who have eaten at McDonald's and suffered an illness as a result of the outbreak," the statement says, without elaboration.
It goes on to explain that McDonald's has confirmed that there is no E. coli in Quarter Pounder beef patties and has officially ruled out the patties as the source of the outbreak.
On Monday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service confirmed that the ground beef had been ruled out as a source of the contamination. A spokesperson stated, "FSIS used specific meal information reported by ill people to trace beef patties through the supply chain to the establishment where they were produced and did not identify a beef source." They added that they will continue to monitor the outbreak, alongside other state and federal agencies.
While McDonald's had previously discontinued the sale of Quarter Pounders in the Colorado Springs area out of an "abundance of caution" until the source of the contamination could be confirmed, they were now planning to resume distribution in the week ahead.
At the same time, 900 stores will continue to sell Quarter Pounders without slivered onions, which had previously been supplied by Taylor Farms, and -- as the company announced publicly last week -- McDonald's will stop sourcing onions from that partner indefinitely.
The last known person with symptoms linked to the E. coli outbreak fell sick on Oct. 10.
