A customer walks out of a McDonald’s restaurant on October 23, 2024 in Omaha, Nebraska.
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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tells McDonald’s late last week regarding a potential link E. coli outbreaka company spokesman said Wednesday.
At the time, the number of linked cases was smaller than it is today – although the company did not disclose how many there were at the time. As of Tuesday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had attributed 49 cases and one death in 10 states to the outbreak, which has been linked to McDonald’s Quarter Pounder burgers.
After learning of the link, McDonald’s began working with the CDC, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration. When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory notice issued McDonald’s has decided to remove the Quarter Pounder burger from restaurants in the affected areas on Tuesday afternoon, a spokesman said.
About one-fifth of McDonald’s U.S. restaurants currently don’t sell the Quarter Pounder burger.
As of Tuesday, the CDC had interviewed 18 confirmed cases. Of the patients, 12 recalled eating a quarter-pound burger before becoming ill.
The outbreak comes as McDonald’s is trying to win back diners who have been hesitant about price increases for years. That raises the stakes for the company as it hopes its $5 value meal deals will lure consumers back to its restaurants.
fast food chain Make a statement The outbreak began Tuesday night, shortly after the CDC issued its recommendations. Cesar Pina, the company’s chief supply chain officer for North America, said in a statement that the company is removing Quarter Pounder from restaurants in affected areas, including Colorado, Kansas, Utah, Wyoming and parts of eight other states.
The CDC is investigating whether Quarter Pounder’s raw onions and its beef patties are potential culprits in the outbreak. However, McDonald’s uses multiple beef suppliers in the area and its burgers are supposed to be cooked to an internal temperature that kills bacteria.
This would make onions a more likely contaminant. In the region, McDonald’s uses a single onion supplier to wash and slice the vegetables. The company has suspended distribution of the ingredient and asked local restaurants to stop serving onions.
Based on the cases reported so far, the outbreak lasted from September 27 to October 11.
McDonald’s shares fell 5% in afternoon trading as investors worried that the outbreak could lead to a decline in sales at the fast-food giant.
