A quarter pounder with cheese, fries and a drink is prepared at a McDonald's restaurant in El Sobrante, California, on October 23, 2024.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Ninety people in 13 states have been infected by a deadly E. coli outbreak linked to… McDonald's The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday it was continuing to investigate the source of the outbreak.
The outbreak has led to the hospitalization of 27 people and the death of one elderly adult in Colorado.
Before Wednesday, the CDC provided its latest update on the outbreak on Friday, when the agency said it had 75 cases in 13 states. The agency first announced the outbreak on October 22.
Fresh cut onions served in Quarter Pounders and other menu items at McDonald's are the “likely source of the outbreak,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on its website Wednesday.
The agency added that the additional illnesses date back to before McDonald's and Taylor Farms, which supplies onions to the affected area, took action to remove the ingredient from affected sites. The CDC believes the risk to the public is “very low” due to the efforts of McDonald's and Taylor Farms.
“The likelihood of contaminated onions remaining available for sale is low,” the agency wrote.
The Quarter Pounder hamburger is a staple on the McDonald's menu, generating billions of dollars each year. The fast food giant said Sunday that burgers will return to nearly a fifth of U.S. restaurants this week, or about 3,000 locations, after it pulled the menu item due to the outbreak.
But about 900 of those locations will serve the Quarter Pounder without cut onions for the foreseeable future as the CDC and other health authorities continue to examine the source of the outbreak. The change will affect restaurants in Colorado, Kansas and Wyoming as well as parts of Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Utah.
