McDonald’s will start selling Quarter Pounders at all its locations in the U.S. again after temporarily pausing sales following an E. coli outbreak that’s so far sickened 75 people in 13 states, including 13 hospitalizations and one death. The fast food chain has determined the cause of the outbreak was onions from a facility in Colorado that were only used on the Quarter Pounders and E. coli was not present in the beef used in the burgers.
“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,” McDonald’s North America Chief Supply Chain Officer Cesar Piña said in a statement posted online.
“That said, health officials have noted that with increased awareness, more people will seek medical attention and case counts will grow,” Piña continued. “This awareness is a good thing, as it can lead to people being vigilant and connecting with medical professionals.”
McDonald’s had halted sales of Quarter Pounders in Colorado, Kansas, Utah, Wyoming, as well as portions of Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, and Oklahoma, according to the CDC. But all of those states will see Quarter Pounders again this week, albeit without the silvered onions sourced from Taylor Farms. It’s not clear when the restaurant chain may get onions for the Quarter Pounders again.
The timing of the rollout will be on “a rolling basis,” as the restaurant explained, “based on delivery and resupply operations.”
Most people recover from illness caused by E. coli within 5-7 days but others may develop serious kidney problems, including hemolytic uremic syndrome. Children, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems are at the highest risk for severe illness from E. coli. and lawsuits from people who have gotten sick have already begun.
McDonald’s president Joe Erlinger released a video message Sunday to apologize and reassure customers that its food was safe to eat.
“On behalf of the McDonald’s system, I want you to hear from me, we are sorry,” said Erlinger. “For those customers affected, you have my commitment that, led by our values: we will make this right.”
“As we move forward, I want to reassure you that customers can continue to count on McDonald’s to ALWAYS do the right thing,” Erlinger continued. “Our doing the right thing will show up in various ways—big and small, public and private.”
Competing restaurants like Taco Bell, Burger King, KFC, and Pizza Hut all pulled onions from some locations last week that were sourced from Taylor Farms.
“The FDA is continuing its investigation into Taylor Farms’ Colorado Springs facility,” McDonald’s said in a statement. “As a reminder, McDonald’s removed slivered onions from this facility from our supply chain on October 22 and shared that we had decided to stop sourcing onions from Taylor Farms’ Colorado Springs facility indefinitely.”
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