Quarter Pounders are back on the McDonald’s menu after testing ruled out beef patties as the source of the outbreak of E. coli poisoning.
- coli had killed one person and sicked 75 others across 13 states. 22 were hospitalized and two developed a dangerous kidney disease.
- coli is a dangerous bacteria that releases toxins. Annually, it causes around 74,000 infections around the world, according to the CDC. It usually targets the elderly, people with weak immune systems, and children under 5 years old.
The Colorado Department of Agriculture tested several samples of the beef patties from various McDonald’s locations in Colorado. All samples were tested negative for E. coli.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration believes the slivered onions from a single supplier in the Quarter Pounders are likely the source of the contamination. McDonald’s will resume selling the Quarter Pounder without the slivered onions.
McDonald’s has confirmed that a California-based company, Taylor Farms, supplied the onions used in the restaurants affected by the outbreak. The uncooked onions came from a facility in Colorado Springs, Colorado. McDonald’s has “indefinity” decided to stop sourcing onions from Taylor Farms.
