McDonald’s Quarter Pounder Returns Amid E. Coli Outbreak

McDonald's ongoing E. coli outbreak has caused the chain to temporarily pull Quarter Pounders off the menu last week in some parts of the country. In a most recent development, however, the chain said it was ready to bring the popular burger back. And the item will feature one key change.

The Quarter Pounder will soon return to the hundreds of McDonald's restaurants that had stopped serving it. The burger seemed to be the culprit of infection for dozens of customers that had gotten sick. McDonald's stated in an open letter dated Oct. 10 that "initial findings from the investigation indicate that a subset of illnesses may be linked to slivered onions used in the Quarter Pounder and sourced by a single supplier that serves three distribution centers."

All local McDonald's restaurants were ordered to stop serving these onions. Out of an abundance of caution, McDonald's temporarily stopped serving the burger in the impacted areas, just in case the beef patties were linked to the outbreak as well. The affected restaurants were located in Colorado, Kansas, Utah, Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, and Oklahoma.

However, the chain stated on Oct. 27 that it was able to rule out the Quarter Pounder beef patties as the source of the outbreak. McDonald's North America Chief Supply Chain Officer Cesar Piña said the Quarter Pounder beef patties were negative for E. coli during testing conducted by the Colorado Department of Agriculture. Additionally, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has declared the slivered onions used on the Quarter Pounders as the "likely source of contamination."

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These onions were supplied by the California-based Taylor Farms' Colorado Springs facility, which has since recalled several onion products out of caution. McDonald's has decided to stop sourcing onions from the facility "indefinitely," while rival fast-food chains have also pulled onions from menus at select stores.

In the meantime, the Quarter Pounder will return to the impacted McDonald's restaurants—just without the slivered onions.

"The 900 restaurants that historically received slivered onions from Taylor Farms' Colorado Springs facility will resume sales of Quarter Pounders without slivered onions. We are now confident in asking our beef suppliers to produce a new supply of fresh beef patties for the impacted areas," Piña wrote in the update.

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"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," he continued.

The E. coli outbreak tied to McDonald's Quarter Pounders has so far caused 75 illnesses, 22 hospitalizations, and one death across 13 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). E. coli symptoms typically start within three to four days after consuming the bacteria, and most people recover without treatment after five to seven days.

However, the CDC urges anyone who experiences severe E. coli symptoms—such as fever higher than 102 F, diarrhea that lasts for more than three days, bloody diarrhea, signs of dehydration, and so much vomiting that liquids can't be kept down—to contact their doctors.