More Chains Remove Onions From Menus Over E. Coli Concerns
No illnesses beyond McDonald’s have been reported, but KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and Burger King are taking the step at some locations out of ‘an abundance of caution.’
Raivint W/Getty Images
Fast-food fans, please take note: Concerns about the McDonald’s E. coli outbreak linked to the slivered onions on its Quarter Pounders is expanding beyond the Golden Arches. Some locations of several other chains — including KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and Burger King — are also removing onions from their menus, citing “an abundance of caution.”
Here are the latest things you should know:
On Thursday, October 24, McDonald’s named Taylor Farms as the supplier of the onions served on the Quarter Pounders that made people sick in an E. coli outbreak that now spans more than a dozen states. By then, Quarter Pounders — as well as sliced onions and quarter-pound beef patties in general — had already been pulled from the chain’s menus in the affected states.
Taylor Farms recalled yellow onions produced in its Colorado facility on Wednesday, saying the step was being taken “out of an abundance of caution” and traces of E. coli have not been found at the facility. U.S. Foods Quality Assurance sent out a notice to the customers it supplies alerting them to the recall. That notice can be found here.
Thirteen states have now been affected in the McDonald’s outbreak, including the initial dozen named by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Colorado, Kansas, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico and Oklahoma; together, they comprise almost one-fifth of the McDonald’s U.S. locations.
By Friday, onions had been removed from the menus of 14 locations of Illegal Pete’s. Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC locations had also stopped serving raw onions at “select locations,” Nation’s Restaurant News has reported. A Yum brands spokesperson told the industry publication it was doing so “proactively” and “out of an abundance of caution,” and that the company would continue to monitor the situation to ensure “safety and quality.”
Burger King, too, said it was “proactively” removing onions from locations supplied by the Taylor Farms Colorado facility implicated in the McDonald’s E. coli outbreak, which constitute five percent of Burger King’s U.S. locations. Speaking with Nation’s Restaurant News, the chain noted that it used “whole, fresh onions,” which were then cut, peeled, washed and sliced on location at its restaurants daily. “Despite no contact from health authorities and no indications of illness, we proactively asked our 5% of restaurants who received whole onions distributed by this facility to dispose of them immediately two days ago and we are in the process of restocking them from other facilities,” the chain said.
While at first there was some concern that the hamburger patties might be the source, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention increasingly zeroed in on the slivered onions because they came from this single supplier. If confirmed, it will be the first time raw onions have been implicated as the source of the specific strain of E. coli — O157:H7 — linked to the outbreak.
As of Friday, October 25, one older adult had died as a result of the outbreak, in which 75 people are confirmed to have been sickened. Twenty-two others have hospitalized, including one child who has developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a life-threatening kidney disease, according to the CDC.
The outbreak, recall and repercussions are rapidly developing, with more illnesses expected. If you develop severe E. coli symptoms — such as diarrhea, a fever higher than 102 degrees Fahrenheit, vomiting that prevents you from retaining liquids and/or signs of dehydration — you are advised to contact your healthcare provider.
Related Content:
