A deadly outbreak of E. coli infection linked to McDonald’s Quarter Pounders burgers has spread, with at least 75 people sickened in 13 states, U.S. health officials reported Friday.
A total of 22 people have been hospitalized and two have developed a dangerous complication of kidney disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). One person died in Colorado.
A definitive source of the outbreak has not been identified, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials said. Initial data analyzed by the FDA showed that raw sliced onions used in hamburgers “are a likely source of contamination,” according to the agency.
Taylor Farms, a California-based fruit and vegetable producer that supplies raw sliced onions to McDonald’s, this week issued a voluntary recall of yellow onions due to possible E. coli contamination, federal officials said.
McDonald’s confirmed that the recalled Taylor Farms onions were sent to a distribution point and used in the restaurants involved in the outbreak.
Taylor Farms has not responded to multiple requests for comment from The Associated Press.
McDonald’s did not reveal the distribution point, but it removed the burger from menus in several states – mainly in the north-central region of the country and the so-called Mountain states in the western United States – when the outbreak was announced on Tuesday.
Another company that operates Burger King restaurants reported that it sources whole onions from the Taylor Farms facility in Colorado. He stopped using them, although no illnesses had been reported.
The new McDonald’s cases reported Friday represented a sharp increase from the original count of 49 in 10 states. The majority of cases were reported in Colorado, with 26 cases; 13 in Montana, 11 in Nebraska; five in New Mexico and Utah; four in Missouri and Wyoming; two in Michigan and one each in Iowa, Kansas, Oregon, Wisconsin and Washington, the CDC reported.
Some people who became ill reported traveling to other states before their symptoms began. At least three people said they ate at McDonald’s during their trip. The illnesses were reported between September 27 and October 11.
McDonald’s announced Friday that it has not removed the Quarter Pounder from other restaurants, noting that travel appeared to be a factor in some of the cases.
Other fast food restaurants, including Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC and Burger King, removed onions from some menus in certain areas this week.
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