A double quarter pounder with cheese and fries prepared at a McDonald's restaurant in El Sobrante, California, USA, on Wednesday, October 23, 2024.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | fake images
McDonald's Quarter Pounder burgers will return to approximately 900 restaurants this week after the fast food giant pulled the menu item linked to a deadly E. coli outbreak.
The affected restaurants (about one-fifth of the company's U.S. presence) will serve Quarter Pounder burgers without chopped onions for the foreseeable future as health authorities continue their investigation into the origin of the outbreak. That change will affect restaurants in Colorado, Kansas and Wyoming and parts of Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Utah.
“The problem appears to be limited to a particular ingredient and geography, and we remain very confident that any contaminated products related to this outbreak have been removed from our supply chain and are out of all McDonald's restaurants,” said César Pina, supply chain director. for McDonald's North American operations, he said in a letter sent to the company's US system.
According to Pina, Colorado Department of Agriculture testing did not detect E. coli in samples of beef burgers taken at area restaurants. The agency does not plan to conduct further tests on the company's beef.
McDonald's, 1 month
Instead, health authorities have focused on the sliced onions used in Quarter Pounders as likely suspects in the outbreak. The Food and Drug Administration is still investigating whether onions produced by Taylor Farms are responsible. McDonald's has stopped using Taylor Farms as a supplier of the ingredient indefinitely.
McDonald's is now asking its beef suppliers to produce a new supply of fresh beef patties used in its Quarter Pounders, Pina wrote in a letter sent to the company's U.S. system. Customers can expect to see the menu item again at all restaurants next week, although it will happen on a rolling basis, depending on delivery and replenishment operations.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that the E. coli outbreak linked to McDonald's has caused 75 cases in 13 states. Of 61 patients with available information, 22 have been hospitalized and two people have developed a serious condition that can cause kidney failure, called hemolytic uremic syndrome. The agency also previously said an older adult in Colorado died.
According to the cases reported so far, the outbreak took place between September 27 and October 11. Over a two-week period, McDonald's typically sells about one million quarter-pounders in the affected region, according to company spokespeople.
McDonald's USA President Joe Erlinger apologized to customers who feel “sick, scared or unsafe” in a video posted on the company's website.
“On behalf of the McDonald's system, I want you to tell me: We're sorry,” he said.
McDonald's is expected to report its third-quarter earnings before the bell on Tuesday. The company's shares have fallen 7% since the CDC linked the E. coli outbreak to its restaurants.
