McDonald’s president reassures customers after deadly E. coli outbreak linked to quarter pounders

The president of McDonald’s USA said Wednesday that customers should feel confident ordering from its restaurants as the company seeks to minimize the damage from an E. coli outbreak linked to the chain’s Quarter Pounder hamburgers in multiple states.

Per The Associated Press, the Centers for Disease Control says that at least 49 people in 10 states have gotten sick and one older adult in Colorado has died. Ten people have been hospitalized, including a child who developed a kidney disease called hemolytic uremic syndrome. The CDC opened an investigation on Oct. 15 after the first case of the outbreak occurred on Sept. 27, and Colorado health officials alerted the CDC to an uptick in E. coli cases on Oct. 10. It said infections were reported between Sept. 27 and Oct. 11 in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oregon, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming. One person in Colorado died, with 10 people were hospitalized.

Joe Erlinger, president of McDonald’s USA, told NBC’s “TODAY” show: “We are very confident that you can go to McDonald’s and enjoy our classics. We took swift action yesterday to remove the Quarter Pounder from our menu. This was swift and decisive action by us,” adding that the company is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Erlinger said: “You know, our founder famously said, ‘If you take care of our customers, the business will take care of itself. And so on a day like today given the news we’ve had over the last 24 hours, that’s really our focus. We’re confident that, that we’ll see our way through this and we’ll restore confidence for the American consumer to come to McDonald’s.”

State and local public health officials interviewed people about the foods they ate in the week before they got sick, and of the 18 interviewed, all reported eating at McDonald’s – with 16 people reported eating a beef hamburger, and twelve reported eating a Quarter Pounder.

McDonald’s said it serves 1 million Quarter Pounders in the affected areas every two weeks, and a preliminary investigation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration suggests fresh onions that are served raw on Quarter Pounders were a likely source of contamination. McDonald’s said its initial findings from an investigation point 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” adding that the company is searching for a new regional supplier for fresh onions, with Quarter Pounders being removed from menus in one-fifth of its U.S. restaurants.

Officials say it’s possible more illnesses may be reported, as it takes three to four weeks to determine if a sick person is part of an outbreak. Symptoms of E. coli infection include high fever over 102 degrees, severe stomach cramps, diarrhea and vomiting.

Editorial credit: Moab Republic / Shutterstock.com