McDonald's beef patties ruled out as E. coli outbreak source, Quarter Pounders returning to menus

McDonald’s provided an update on a multistate E. coli outbreak on Sunday, saying tests have determined Quarter Pounder beef patties aren’t behind the outbreak, and the product will return to affected restaurants in the coming week.

Cesar Piña, North America Chief Supply Chain Officer, in a letter distributed publicly, wrote “the issue appears to be contained to a particular ingredient and geography” — likely slivered onions — and Quarter Pounder beef patties have been ruled out as the source.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday revealed the outbreak grew to include 13 states, with at least 75 people sickened. The CDC also warned that the “true” number of sick people in the outbreak is likely higher, and may not be limited to states with known illnesses.

The restaurants included in the outbreak are in Colorado, Kansas, and Wyoming, as well as portions of Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Utah. 

Most of those sickened reported eating Quarter Pounders served at McDonald’s, the CDC said. The Chicago-based chain subsequently pulled the item from menus in as many as 12 states as investigators initially said the illnesses could be tied to either the beef patties or fresh, slivered onions sold on the sandwich. The agency later revealed slivered onions from a supplier – Taylor Farms and its facility in Colorado Springs – were the “likely source of contamination.”

As authorities worked to track down the source, McDonald’s stopped distributing Quarter Pounder patties to the impacted area “out of an abundance of caution.” Over the weekend, the company said it learned the Colorado Department of Agriculture completed their testing, which confirmed there was no E. Coli detected in samples of Quarter Pounder patties.

As a result, the fast food giant will begin distributing fresh beef supply to locations, and Quarter Pounders are expected to be available in all restaurants in the coming week, according to the letter.

The 900 restaurants that received slivered onions from the facility in question will resume selling Quarter Pounders without slivered onions.

Read McDonald’s full statement below.

McDonald’s North America Chief Supply Chain Officer Cesar Piña shared the following internal message.

Dear McDonald’s USA,  

Our commitment to food safety isn’t the responsibility of any one person, team, department, or leg of the stool.

Our commitment to food safety is everyone’s primary responsibility, and this week we’ve been reminded why.

First, I want to thank once again the health authorities with whom we’ve been partnering. They can count on McDonald’s continued close partnership in their vital work, now and well into the future.

As someone who has worked in food safety for two decades, it has been meaningful to see the strong partnership between McDonald’s and public health officials, including CDC, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Colorado Department of Agriculture, USDA, FSIS, and FDA. 

It was especially important to all of us—across the entire System—when CDC noted that our proactive steps resulted in the risk to the public being “very low.”

This was also a reminder of how our values must guide us every single day: we put people first, and we do the right thing.

The issue appears to be contained to a particular ingredient and geography, and we remain very confident that any contaminated product related to this outbreak has been removed from our supply chain and is out of all McDonald’s restaurants.

That said, health officials have noted that with increased awareness, more people will seek medical attention and case counts will grow. This awareness is a good thing, as it can lead to people being vigilant and connecting with medical professionals.

As the CDC has shared, symptoms usually start 3 to 4 days after consuming contaminated food, and most people recover without treatment after 5 to 7 days. That said, it can take 3-4 weeks for public health agencies to confirm if an ill person is part of the outbreak. 

While we understand that slivered onions from this facility were distributed well beyond McDonald’s System to other quick service restaurants and food service providers, public health agencies’ interviews at this stage will likely focus on patients who note visiting McDonald’s. This could also account for more cases being linked to McDonald’s.

We are committed to making this right for any customers who have eaten at McDonald’s and suffered an illness as a result of the outbreak.

As Joe shared last week, we will continue to be guided by our principles while managing this situation and earning our customers’ trust:

• Continue to do the right thing
• Partner closely with health authorities and let science lead our decision making
• Take swift and decisive action
• Deploy the full breadth of our resources
• Continue to communicate quickly and transparently

With that, there are a few important updates that we’d like to share.

• Over the weekend, McDonald’s was informed that the Colorado Department of Agriculture has completed their testing, the results of which confirm that there was no detection of E. coli in the samples taken of Quarter Pounder beef patties from restaurants in this area. We’ve been informed there is no further testing planned for beef patties.  
• Overlaying the CDC’s Epidemiological data with our Supply Chain traceback data, we have ruled out Quarter Pounder patties as the source.
• Last week, out of an abundance of caution, we stopped distributing Quarter Pounder beef patties to the impacted area. Based on the above information, we are now confident in asking our beef suppliers to produce a new supply of fresh beef patties for the impacted areas. We will resume distribution of that fresh supply and the Quarter Pounder is expected to be available in all restaurants in the coming week. This will be on a rolling basis based on delivery and resupply operations. 
• The 900 restaurants that historically received slivered onions from Taylor Farms’ Colorado Springs facility will resume sales of Quarter Pounders without slivered onions. Those restaurants are in Colorado, Kansas, and Wyoming, as well as portions of Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Utah.
• A brief FAQ document is available here and for more information on McDonald’s Food Safety see here. 

The FDA is continuing its investigation into Taylor Farms’ Colorado Springs facility. As a reminder, McDonald’s removed slivered onions from this facility from our supply chain on October 22 and shared that we had decided to stop sourcing onions from Taylor Farms’ Colorado Springs facility indefinitely. Over the past few days, you’ve likely seen that additional food service providers and restaurant brands that received onions from this facility have moved to stop selling and/or recall onions.

The FDA is continuing its investigation into Taylor Farms’ Colorado Springs facility. As a reminder, McDonald’s removed slivered onions from this facility from our supply chain on October 22 and shared that we had decided to stop sourcing onions from Taylor Farms’ Colorado Springs facility indefinitely. Over the past few days, you’ve likely seen that additional food service providers and restaurant brands that received onions from this facility have moved to stop selling and/or recall onions.

I want to thank all of you for your support, for your efforts to promote public health, and for upholding our core values. 
 
Cesar Piña  
SVP, Chief Supply Chain Officer, North America