A deadly outbreak of E. coli poisoning linked to McDonald’s Quarter Pounders has spread, with at least 75 people sick in 13 states, federal health officials announced on Friday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 22 people have been hospitalized, two of whom have suffered a serious kidney disease consequence. One person died in Colorado.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not found a definitive source for the incident. Early FDA analysis revealed that the uncooked slivered onions used on the burgers “are a likely source of contamination,” reported news agency AP.
McDonald’s has confirmed that Taylor Farms, a California-based produce company, supplied the fresh onions used in the outbreak-affected locations, which came from a facility in Colorado Springs.
“We have decided to stop sourcing onions from Taylor Farms’ Colorado Springs facility indefinitely,” McDonald’s said in a statement released late Friday.
Taylor Farms announced on Friday that it had preemptively recalled yellow onions supplied to consumers from its Colorado facility and is continuing to cooperate with the CDC and FDA in their investigations.
“It saddens us to see the illnesses and affected individuals and families,” the family-owned business stated, as per AP reports.
When the outbreak was revealed on Tuesday, McDonald’s removed the Quarter Pounder burger from menus in numerous states, primarily in the Midwest and the mountains. McDonald’s said on Friday that slivered onions from its Colorado Springs facility were supplied to about 900 of its restaurants, including those in transit hubs such as airports.
The new instances disclosed Friday represented a significant increase above the original number of 49 in ten states. The most illnesses were reported in Colorado, with 26 cases. The CDC reported that at least 13 persons were affected in Montana, 11 in Nebraska, 5 in New Mexico and Utah, 4 in Missouri and Wyoming, 2 in Michigan, and 1 in Iowa, Kansas, Oregon, Wisconsin, and Washington.
(With inputs from the agency)