McDonald’s says testing rules out beef patties as a source of E. coli outbreak

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tests have ruled out beef patties as the source of the disease outbreak of E. coli poisoning affiliated with McDonald’s Quarter Pounders, the company said Sunday. Sales of the Quarter Pounder will resume next week.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration continues to believe that chopped onions from a single supplier are the likely source of contamination, McDonald’s said.

By Friday, the outbreak had expanded to at least 75 sick people in 13 states, federal health officials said. A total of 22 people are now hospitalized, and two have developed a dangerous complication of kidney disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One person has died in Colorado.

Early information analyzed by the FDA showed that uncooked chopped onions used on the burgers “are a likely source of contamination,” the agency said. McDonald’s has confirmed this that Taylor Farms, a California-based produce company, was the supplier of the fresh onions used in the restaurants involved in the outbreak, and that they came from a facility in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The 900 McDonald’s restaurants that normally receive chopped onions from the Taylor Farms facility in Colorado Springs will resume selling Quarter Pounders without chopped onions, McDonald’s said.

Taylor Farms said Friday it has preemptively recalled yellow onions sent from its Colorado factory to its customers and continues to cooperate with the CDC and FDA as they investigate.

The outbreak involves infections with E. coli 0157:H7, a type of bacteria that produces a dangerous poison. It causes about 74,000 infections in the U.S. annually, leading to more than 2,000 hospitalizations and 61 deaths annually, according to CDC.