Quarter Pounders are off 20% of McDonald's menus in the US because E. coli cases were investigated

McDonald's worked Wednesday to reassure customers that its U.S. restaurants are safe as federal investigators try to determine a cause. Fatal e. coli outbreak connected with of the fast food giant Quarter pounder hamburgers.

McDonald's Quarter pounders are drawn from one-fifth of this in US stores As a result of the outbreak on Tuesday, which the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said has sickened at least 49 people in 10 states. One person died and 10 were hospitalized CDC.

A preliminary investigation by the US Food and Drug Administration suggested that freshly sliced onions served raw on quarter pounder hamburgers were the likely source. pollution. McDonald's also serves raw, slivered onions on one of its breakfast sandwiches, but that sandwich was not available at the affected stores. Other burgers, eg Big MacUse chopped, cooked onions.

McDonald's said it is looking for a new regional supplier for fresh onions. Meanwhile, quarter pounders were removed from menus in Colorado, Kansas, Utah, Wyoming and parts of Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico and Oklahoma.

AP Correspondent Julie Walker McDonald's Quarter Pounder and a deadly E. coli outbreaks have been reported

Adrian Madden pulled into a McDonald's outside of Denver on Wednesday for his usual afternoon snack but then decided against it. He said, he is not sure how E. Coli spreads or contaminates other foods, and he thinks McDonald's should be more forthcoming.

“It affects my decision to come to McDonald's in the future,” Madden said. “I think the information is not so widely spread. I didn't see any notice on the door, and then I saw the cars go through the drive as if nothing was happening.”

Colorado has had the most reported cases of any state so far, and is home to the death of an older adult.

McDonald's said it has worked closely with federal food safety regulators since late last week, when it was alerted to the potential outbreak. The extent of this problem and the institution Popularity of its products There are complex efforts to identify the source of pollution.

McDonald's has more than 14,000 U.S. stores and serves 1 million quarter-pounders every two weeks in the affected 12-state area.

McDonald's is known for its strictness Food security guidelines and protocols, said Chris Gallke, professor of food and beverage management at Cornell University's Nolan School of Hotel Administration. The agency said Wednesday that the supplier regularly tests its onions for E. coli, for example.

“Given the amount of food they go through, the fact that this rarely happens with McDonald's is a testament to the effort they put into it,” Gallke said.

But some experts questioned why McDonald's simply stopped selling a sandwich and didn't close the restaurant pending further investigation.

“The best practice was to close all the restaurants,” said Bill Marler, a Seattle lawyer who has sued companies over food poisoning outbreaks. “Until we know for sure what the product was that made people sick, consumers should be aware.”

Marler said cross-contamination remains a potential possibility until affected restaurants are thoroughly cleaned.

Asked why it had not closed any restaurants, McDonald's said nothing in the government's investigation indicated there were problems with its food preparation practices. In an interview on the “Today” show Wednesday, McDonald's US President Joe Erlinger also said it was likely the product that was contaminated had already passed through the company's supply chain.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the outbreak late Tuesday night. Infections were reported between September 27 and October 11 in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oregon, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming, it said.

State and local public health officials were interviewing people about the foods they ate in the week before they got sick. Of the 18 people interviewed as of Tuesday, all reported eating at McDonald's and 16 reported eating beef hamburgers. Twelve people reported eating a quarter pounder.

McDonald's says it's unlikely beef Pounder was sourced in the quarter, as it comes from multiple suppliers and e. Coli is cooked to a temperature high enough to kill it.

McDonald's said its initial investigation found that some of the reported illnesses were linked to onions from a single supplier, which the company did not name. McDonald's said the onions are cleaned and chopped by suppliers and then packaged for consumption in individual quarter pounders.

E. coli has an incubation period of just a few days, so illness will be quickly apparent to anyone infected, said Donald Schaffner, a food safety expert at Rutgers University. “If you ate these burgers in September and now it's mid-October and you're not sick, you're probably fine,” he said.

E. coli bacteria are harbored in the gut of animals and are found in the environment. Infection can cause serious illness, including fever, abdominal pain, and bloody diarrhea. Those who e. Those who develop symptoms of coli poisoning should seek immediate health care and tell the provider what they ate.

According to the CDC, the bacteria involved in the McDonald's case causes about 74,000 infections in the United States annually, resulting in more than 2,000 hospitalizations and 61 deaths each year. In general, E. in 2023 compared to recent years. coli infections remained low and the incidence of serious kidney injuries caused by the bacteria remained stable, according to recent federal data.

Outbreaks at chain restaurants are rare, however They will happen.

In 2020, Chipotle Between 2015 and 2018 e. agreed to pay a record $25 million fine to settle criminal charges that it served contaminated food to more than 1,100 people infected with coli. In that case, poor safety practices, such as not keeping food at the proper temperature, prevent it. Pathogenic growth, was responsible.

In 2006, Taco Bell ordered the removal of green onions from its restaurants nationwide after samples taken by investigators appeared to contain a virulent strain of E. coli. The outbreak has sickened at least 71 people.

“The worst thing you can have in a restaurant is a food safety issue. It's the equivalent of losing an airline plane,” says Aaron Allen, a restaurant consultant and founder of Aaron Allen & Associates.

But Allen said McDonald's has enough experience and safety protocols that it won't suffer long-term damage from the outbreak.

“Nobody would be better equipped to mitigate and respond to this than McDonald's,” he said.

McDonald's shares fell 5% on Wednesday.