McDonald’s says Taylor Farms supplied onions linked to deadly E. coli outbreak

McDonald’s officials have confirmed that Taylor Farms was the supplier of onions that have been linked to a deadly E. coli outbreak traced to Quarter Pounder burgers sold at the chain’s restaurants.

On Oct. 23, US Foods reported that Taylor Farms had recalled whole, peeled onions as well as diced onions. But the wholesaler also said that it wasn’t a McDonald’s supplier and that its recall didn’t include any products sold at the fast food chain’s restaurants.

However, on Oct. 4 McDonald’s officials said that Taylor Farms was the supplier to some of its restaurants, according to the Associated Press. The restaurants implicated in the outbreak represent 20 percent of McDonald’s locations in the United States.

Taylor Farms, based in Salinas, CA, has not responded to requests for comment on the situation from Food Safety News. The company released a general statement on Oct. 24:

“We test both raw and finished products for pathogens and have found no traces of E. coli. We have never seen E. coliO157:H7 associated with onions in the past. 

“Out of an abundance of caution, Taylor Farms Colorado removed yellow onions from the market produced out of our Colorado facility. 

“We continue to work closely with FDA and CDC during this ongoing investigation. Our priority is the health and wellness of our customers and consumers and the safety and quality of our products.”

Slivered onions served on McDonald’s Quarter Pounder hamburgers have become the suspected source of E. coli 0157:H7 that has sickened 49 people across 10 states. One person has died and 10 have been hospitalized. One child has developed a complication that causes kidney damage and often leads to death.

Additional patients are likely to be identified because for every confirmed case of E. coli infection there are 26 undiagnosed patients, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

The Food and Drug Administration has not yet confirmed that onions are the source of the pathogen, but it a spokesperson told media outlets on Oct. 24 that onions are being closely looked at. The USDA is also checking into the beef patties used for the hamburgers, but health officials say it is more likely that the onions are the problem. 

Frank Yiannas, former Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy & Response at the FDA, told Food Safety News that the problems with onions, and food in general, should have been solved by now.

“It’s disappointing to see the same vehicles showing up over and over again and not applying the lessons learned,” Yiannas said. “We need a new federal model on how to investigate outbreaks, share lessons learned in a more actionable way, incorporate them into regulation, and do better outreach to regulated industries.

“What we’ve been doing hasn’t worked for decades.”

Meanwhile, in several states, McDonald’s has stop selling Quarter Pounders and a breakfast sandwich, both of which use fresh, slivered onions.

Other fast food chains have pulled fresh onions from their menus. Those restaurants include Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC and Burger King.

US Foods, the country’s largest supplier of food to food service operations including restaurants in all 50 states, said the recalled onions came from a Taylor Farms facility in Colorado. Colorado has been the hardest hit state in the outbreak with 29 of the 49 patients living there.

Other states with outbreak patients are Kansas, Utah, Wyoming, and portions of Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, and Oklahoma.

Onions have been the source of pathogens in previous outbreaks. In 2015, Taylor Farms recalled a celery and onion mix used in Costco chicken salads after 19 people were sickened with E. coli. 

This past year, 80 people were sickened and one died in an outbreak of Salmonella poisoning traced to bagged diced onions from Gills Onions of Oxnard, CA.

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Source: https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2024/10/mcdonalds-says-taylor-farms-supplied-onions-linked-to-deadly-e-coli-outbreak/