McDonald's E Coli outbreak: US public health body says onions on burgers likely source of infection

The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Oct 30 said that slivered onions served on McDonald's Quarter Pounder hamburgers and other menu items were the likely source of an E. coli outbreak that sickened 90 people.

The outbreak allegedly linked to Quarter Pounder was first reported on Oct 22. The slivered onions on the food are suspected to be the source of infections.

Till now, the outbreak affected the US states of Colorado, Kansas, Utah, Wyoming, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oregon, Wisconsin, Washington and Michigan.

Both the US Food and Drug Administration and the global food chain confirmed that Taylor Farms was the supplier for the affected locations.

The company has since recalled several batches of yellow onions produced in a Colorado facility.

The FDA initiated inspections at a Taylor Farms Colorado processing center where 29 people were affected due to the outbreak.

A Washington state onion farmer is also being investigated, the FDA added.

The number of infected people increased to 90 while 27 persons have been hospitalized due to the illness, which has already killed one person, the CDC said.

The E. coli strain O157:H7 that led to the outbreak is said to cause "very serious disease." The elderly, children and people who are immunocompromised are especially at risk.

On Oct 27, the company along with the Colorado Department of Agriculture ruled out the possibility of beef patties behind the outbreak.

The FDA said the symptoms can emerge anywhere from a few days to nine days later after consumption of the contaminated food.

"To say the least, the more these cases arise in the news the harder it will be for McDonald's to reset," said Jim Sanderson, analyst with Northcoast Research.

Meanwhile, McDonald's said that it would resume selling Quarter Pounders burgers this week. The item was taken off the menu temporarily in a fifth of its 14,000 US restaurants that were impacted.

On Oct 29, company executives denied any sales hit from the outbreak. CEO Chris Kempczinski apologized to customers and added that he was "confident in the safety of eating at McDonald's".