The United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed that the slivered onions used in the making of McDonald’s Quarter Pounder hamburgers and other menu items were linked to the E. coli outbreak in the country.
Last week, on Tuesday, October 22, CDC announced that it is investigation the cause behind the disease outbreak in multiple states and reported that McDonald’s hamburger is likely to be the reason.
However, on Monday, October 28, the fast-food chain resumed the sales of its Quarter Pounder burgers after ruling out the possibility of their burgers to be the cause of outbreak.
On Wednesday, October 30, the cases reportedly jumped from 75 to 90, after which the CDC declared McDonald’s slivered onions as the “likely source” of the outbreak, reported Reuters.
Furthermore, the authorities also stated that the actual figures of the affected people may be much higher than the 90 reported so far, adding that many of the patients do not test for the disease and just wait to recover on their own.
The Food and Drug Administration has also talked about the matter and revealed that the most likely source of contamination were the slivered onions supplied by food producer Taylor Farms Colorado Springs.
As per McDonald’s, 900 franchises across 12 states have received the delivery of onions from Taylor Farms, adding that it has stopped sourcing the slivered onions from the company.
Meanwhile, 33 of the 90 victims have filed a lawsuit against the fast-food chain.