A McDonald’s sandwich has been making people sick in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). E. coli, a type of bacteria that can cause serious stomach problems, has been found in McDonald’s Quarter Pounder sandwiches, the CDC announced on Tuesday.
The CDC has recorded 49 cases of illness across 10 states, with ten cases resulting in hospital admissions and one fatality. Most of the cases were reported in western and Midwest states.
McDonald’s is working with investigators to determine which ingredients caused the outbreak. The fast-food restaurant has pulled ingredients for the affected burgers and they won’t be available for sale in some states. The CDC stated that it is not yet known which specific food ingredient is contaminated, but McDonald’s has already stopped using fresh slivered onions and quarter-pound beef patties in several states.
The CDC believes that the slivered onions are the likely source of contamination and investigators are working to determine if the onions were sold to any other businesses. No recalls have been issued yet by the CDC or other health and food regulators.
The first case was recorded on 27 September, with victims ranging in age from 13 to 88. Of the 10 people hospitalized, one developed a serious condition that can cause kidney failure, and one person died after eating at McDonald’s.
Cases have been reported in multiple states, causing McDonald’s shares to fall by about 9% on the New York Stock Exchange. The company has instructed all local restaurants to remove the affected product from their supply and have paused shipments of slivered onions to the region.
McDonald’s USA President Joe Erlinger stated that other beef products remain on the menu, and the company is taking food safety extremely seriously. This is not the first E. coli outbreak to affect McDonald’s, as a similar incident occurred in 2022 with chicken McNuggets in Alabama.
