An E. Coli outbreak linked to McDonald’s Quarter Pounder burgers has sickened at least 104 people across the country, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced in its latest update on Wednesday, although there appears to be no continued food safety concern as the fast food giant has resumed sales of its burgers.
The McDonald's linked E Coli outbreak has sickened more than 100 people and led to at least 34 ... [+]
In its latest update, the CDC said the number of reported cases linked to the outbreak has risen from 90 to 104, while the number of hospitalizations has risen from 27 to 34.
The agency said four people have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a potentially life-threatening kidney condition, up from two such serious cases reported in last month’s update—while the death toll remains at one.
The actual number of cases is likely “much higher than the number reported,” as many people “recover without medical care and are not tested for E. coli,” the CDC said.
The most recent cases were reported on October 21, and all but one of the infected individuals interviewed by the CDC reported eating at McDonald’s before they got sick and 84% remembered eating a menu item with slivered onions.
The CDC reiterated that its epidemiologic and traceback data showed slivered onions—supplied by California-based food producer Taylor Farms—served with the quarter pounders were the likely source of the outbreak.
In a separate update, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said one of the samples of the affected onions tested positive for a toxin-producing E. coli bacteria, but the strain did not match the one that caused the outbreak.
The FDA’s update noted that “there does not appear to be a continued food safety concern related to this outbreak at McDonald’s restaurants.” The fast-food giant cited the FDA’s statement and said it had “identified an alternate supplier for the approximately 900 restaurants that had temporarily stopped serving Quarter Pounder burgers with slivered onions.” With the change of the supplier, the affected restaurants resumed serving Quarter Pounder burgers with slivered onions in the past week, McDonald’s said.
- That is the number of states where the E. coli cases linked to the outbreak have been reported. Colorado and Montana are the two of the worst hit with at least 30 and 19 cases reported in those two states respectively.
CDC Says Onions Likely Caused McDonald’s E Coli Outbreak As Cases Grow To 90 (Forbes)
McDonald's Will Resume Sale Of Quarter Pounders After Testing Finds No E. Coli In Beef Samples (Forbes)