A Colorado processing and distribution center has recalled onions it sold to McDonald’s before the fast-food chain’s E. coli outbreak, which killed one person in the state and sickened at least 75 people nationwide.
Taylor Farms, which is based in California but also has operations in Colorado, Wednesday for whole and diced yellow onions because of possible E. coli contamination.
McDonald’s stated it had purchased onions from Taylor Farms and distributed them to locations in areas affected by the 13-state outbreak.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed Friday that the onions had come from Taylor Farms, but not that they caused the outbreak. Federal officials are still investigating both slivered onions and beef patties as possible sources of contamination.
Taylor Farms has yet to comment on the allegations, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture declined to specify what facilities it was investigating.
McDonald’s took Quarter Pounders off the menu in Colorado and other affected states, because most people who completed interviews about the foods they ate said they’d had that type of hamburger in the days before they got sick.
According to the CDC, at least 26 of the 75 people who have gotten sick nationwide after eating at McDonald’s live in Colorado. Twenty-two people have needed hospital care.
Previously, the CDC reported 49 cases and 10 hospitalizations. All of the people with newly confirmed cases got sick before Oct. 11.
The one fatality was an unidentified person in Mesa County who had pre-existing health conditions.
Whatever companies supplied and handled contaminated ingredients could face liability.
A Colorado man, Eric Stelly, sued McDonald’s for a minimum of $50,000 because he became ill with E. coli after eating at one of the chain’s locations in Greeley on Oct. 4. Stelly visited an emergency room, but the hospital didn’t keep him overnight. His attorney said he was “still recovering” as of Wednesday.
Most people infected with E. coli recover without specific treatment, but children under 5, adults over 65 and people with compromised immune systems are at a higher risk of complications. The bacteria produce a toxin that causes abdominal pain, vomiting, bloody diarrhea and, rarely, bloodstream infections or kidney damage.
In the wake of the McDonald’s E. coli outbreak, other national restaurant chains temporarily stopped using fresh onions.
Colorado chain Illegal Pete’s that it was among the restaurants that had purchased the recalled onions and was throwing them out, while Burger King said it was replacing the recalled onions with ones from another supplier.
Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC also had to dispose of their onions in locations that received potentially contaminated shipments,
“As we continue to monitor the recently reported E. coli outbreak, and out of an abundance of caution, we have proactively removed fresh onions from select Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC restaurants,” Yum Brands said in a statement.
Louisville, Kentucky-based Yum Brands wouldn’t say where onions were removed or whether the company uses the same supplier as McDonald’s. Yum Brands said it will continue to follow guidance from regulators and its suppliers.
Restaurant Brands International, which owns Burger King, said Thursday that 5% of its restaurants use onions distributed by Taylor Farms’ Colorado facility. Burger King restaurants get deliveries of whole, fresh onions and its employees wash, peel and slice them.
Even though it wasn’t contacted by health officials and it had no indications of illness, Restaurant Brands said it asked the restaurants that received onions from the Colorado facility to dispose of them two days ago. The company said itap restocking with onions from other suppliers.
Bill Marler, an attorney who specializes in foodborne illness cases and is representing clients in Nebraska who got sick after eating at McDonald’s, said Taylor Farms had to recall bags of diced celery and onions in 2015 following cases of E. coli in people who ate chicken salad from Costco.
Contaminated onions also caused a , which sicked at least 80 people, hospitalized 18 and killed one. That outbreak involved a different company, Gills Onions.
In almost all foodborne illness outbreaks, the farms and restaurants didn’t intentionally sell contaminated products, but something in the food safety process broke down, Marler said. Often, it involves water contaminated by cow feces, such as an irrigation ditch that caught waste from a nearby feedlot, he said.
The strain of E. coli involved in the current outbreak is harmless to cattle but can cause severe symptoms in humans. It causes about 74,000 infections in the U.S. annually, leading to more than 2,000 hospitalizations and 61 deaths each year, according to CDC.
“Usually in these cases, there’s a cow somewhere,” Marler said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Updated 10:40 a.m. Oct. 25, 2024: This story has been updated to include new information from the CDC on the size and scope of the outbreak.
