USA – Fast-food chains in US including Burger King, KFC and Taco Bell have pulled fresh onions from some restaurants after an E coli outbreak linked to McDonald’s Quarter Pounder sandwiches sickened dozens of people.
McDonald’s has temporarily removed quarter pounders and fresh, slivered onions from the menu in about a fifth of its US stores due to an outbreak of deadly E. coli poisoning.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recorded 49 cases of illness across 10 states. Ten cases resulted in patients being admitted to hospital and one person has died.
Most of the cases of E. coli, a type of bacteria that can cause serious stomach problems, were recorded in western and Midwest states, according to the CDC. As health officials continue to investigate the source of the outbreak, other major food companies have also said they are withdrawing onions in the US.
Burger King’s parent company, Restaurant Brands International, and Yum Brands, which operates Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC, made the announcement on Thursday as McDonald’s named a California-based supplier as the source of onions linked to the food poisonings.
Illegal Pete’s, a Mexican fast-food chain based in Colorado, also announced that it had temporarily pulled several menu items that include onions. Taylor Farms, based in Salinas, California, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Burger King said that about 5% of its restaurants receive onions from a supplier potentially linked to the outbreak. While there has been no indication of contamination or illness at those restaurants, the chain said they have disposed of the produce.
Taylor Farms, which works with major food suppliers such as US Foods, has issued its own recall of some batches of onions out of an abundance of caution.
Taylor Farms said in a statement provided to CBS News that it conducted tests on “raw and finished” onion products and “found no traces of E. coli”.
Of the 26 people who became sick in Colorado, one older adult has died – the first, and only, death that has been linked to the outbreak. The CDC said that an infected child is in hospital with a condition known as hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which can cause kidney failure.
The first confirmed outbreak case was reported on 27 September, but McDonald’s said authorities only notified the company of their concerns late last week.
Authorities have identified the bacteria behind the illnesses as E coli O157:H7, which causes more than 2,000 hospitalisations and 61 deaths in the US each year, according to the CDC.
Symptoms of E coli poisoning can occur within a day or two of eating contaminated food and typically include fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and signs of dehydration.
The first lawsuit against McDonald’s over the outbreak has been filed by a man who fell ill two days after eating at a restaurant in Greeley, Colorado.
After seeking emergency care, Eric Stelly tested positive for E. coli and health officials confirmed his infection was linked to the outbreak, according to a press release from his lawyer, Ron Simon.
