Colorado and McDonald’s officials say hamburger was not a source of E. coli outbreak

The Colorado Department of Agriculture reports that burger patties from McDonald’s Quarter Pounders have tested negative for E. coli.

Based on that report, the fast food giant has decided to begin reintroducing the popular sandwiches at some restaurants, with full reintroduction expected later this week. McDonald’s stopped selling Quarter Pounder sandwiches in 13 states — representing 20 percent of its 14,000 restaurants in the United States — when an outbreak of infections from E. coli O157:H7 began sickening customers.

As of today, 75 people have been confirmed infected with the outbreak strain. Of 61 patients with information available, 22 have been hospitalized. Two patients have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a serious condition that can cause kidney failure. One person has died.

Of the 42 patients interviewed, all reported becoming sick after eating at McDonald’s. The most recent person to become sick had illness onset on Oct. 10.

“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 officials said in a statement.

“That said, health officials have noted that more people will seek medical attention with increased awareness, and case counts will grow. This awareness is good, as it can lead to people being vigilant and connecting with medical professionals.

“While we understand that slivered onions from a facility were distributed well beyond McDonald’s System to other quick service restaurants and food service providers, public health agencies’ interviews at this stage will likely focus on patients who note visiting McDonald’s. This could also account for more cases being linked to McDonald’s.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as many as 26 E. coli infections are undetected because some people do not seek medical attention, and others are not specifically tested for E. coli.

Most of the sick people live in Colorado where 26 people have become infected. The fatality was also in Colorado.

Other states with sick people include Iowa with 1, Kansas with 1, Michigan with 2, Missouri with 4, Montana with 13, Nebraska with 11, New Mexico with 5, Oregon with 1, Utah with 5, Washington with 1, Wisconsin with 1 and
Wyoming with 4. Neither the Food and Drug Administration nor the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have released the patients’ age ranges.

McDonald’s officials say the potentially contaminated beef was immediately removed from use when it became aware of the outbreak. Some beef patties served at the restaurants come frozen and were not considered a possible source. The officials say they are certain that none of the implicated beef is in its supply chain.

Both the CDC and the FDA have said that raw onions served on Quarter Pounders are the likely source of the E. coli bacteria. Taylor Farms of Salinas, CA, last week recalled whole, peeled, and diced onions from food service customers, but the company has not released any test results.

“The 900 restaurants that historically received slivered onions from Taylor Farms’ Colorado Springs facility will resume sales of Quarter Pounders without slivered onions. Those restaurants are in Colorado, Kansas, and Wyoming, as well as portions of Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Utah,” according to McDonald’s officials.

Past foodborne illness outbreaks staled to fresh onions include:

October 2023
October 2021
July 2020
December 2015

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Source: https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2024/10/colorado-and-mcdonalds-officials-say-hamburger-was-not-source-of-e-coli-outbreak/