WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated that onions served at McDonald's Quarter Pounder hamburgers are the likely source of an outbreak of E. coli infections in the U.S. earlier this month.
Epidemiologic and traceback information show that fresh, slivered onions are the likely source of illness in this outbreak, CDC said in an update to its Food Safety Alert regarding the outbreak.
One person died and 90 people from 13 states fell ill from the same strain of E. coli O157:H7 after consuming the infected food.
Five more people have been hospitalized, bringing the total to 27.
All new illnesses occurred before McDonald's and Taylor Farms took action to remove onions from food service locations.
CDC said it believes the continued risk to the public is very low.
Following CDC's warning, McDonald's had withdrawn Quarter Pounder hamburgers from its restaurants in the impacted states while the investigation by the CDC, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, USDA FSIS, and public health officials in multiple states were ongoing to identify the ingredient causing illness.
While collaborating with the probe of federal agencies, McDonald's had temporarily pulled the suspect ingredients, the slivered onions and beef patties, from stores in the affected states.
Testing by the Colorado Department of Agriculture showed no detection of E. coli in the beef patties sampled from restaurants in the area.
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