McDonald’s confirmed that the fresh beef patties in its Quarter Pounders were not the source of the recent E. coli outbreak, Cesar Piña, chief supply chain officer at the chain, said in a Sunday update. Tests completed by the Colorado Department of Agriculture came back negative.
The E. coli outbreak has so far led to at least 75 reported illnesses, including 22 hospitalizations and one death, across 13 states. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention previously narrowed down the potential source to slivered onions or beef patties, but as of Friday had not said which ingredient was the source.
McDonald’s removed Quarter Pounders from the menu last week “out of an abundance of caution” in the impacted region, Piña said. Following the testing of its beef patties, McDonald’s is asking its beef suppliers to create a new supply of fresh beef patties for its Quarter Pounders. McDonald’s has been using fresh beef in its Quarter Pounders since 2018.
The burger will be back on menus this week, Piña said, adding that “this will be on a rolling basis based on delivery and resupply operations.”
Roughly 900 restaurants that previously received slivered onions from Taylor Farms’ Colorado Springs facility, a supplier to McDonald’s, will resume selling the burgers without the onions, Piña said. These restaurants are in Colorado, Kansas and Wyoming in addition to parts of Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Utah.
The FDA continues to investigate Taylor Farms’ Colorado Springs facility. McDonald’s removed slivered onions from this facility from its supply chain last week and decided to stop shipments of onions from that facility “indefinitely,” Piña said.
Following the news of the outbreak, additional brands, including Burger King and Yum Brands’ Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and KFC stopped selling onions from this facility.
McDonald’s is facing several lawsuits over the E. coli outbreak with the first filed last week. A Colorado resident, who fell ill after eating a Quarter Pounder, also filed a lawsuit against Taylor Farms on Friday.
