Onions Recalled As Possible Source of McDonald's Deadly E. Coli Outbreak

By now, you've probably heard about the E. coli outbreak linked to McDonald's Quarter Pounder hamburgers that has killed one person and sickened dozens of others largely in Western states such as Colorado. (Here's a list of states where people have reported getting sick.) 

Authorities still haven't been able to determine what the exact source of the problem is yet, but they had narrowed it down to either the beef in the Quarter Pounders, or the slivered onions. Now, an onion supplier is issuing a recall, which may indicate that the onions are the problem. 

The onions McDonald's used on the Quarter Pounders in the affected region came from one supplier, Taylor Farms, according to The New York Times. The company provides wholesale and retail produce including whole, chopped, and sliced onions.

A number of yellow onion products from Taylor Farms are included in the recall, which would have mostly been used by food service operations. They include 30-pound bags of whole yellow onions and 5-pound bags of diced yellow onions, among others. (More specific information including item numbers can be found in the Recall Notification from US Foods.)

The recall notice instructs anyone with recalled onions to "record the number of cases and then DESTROY THE PRODUCT." It also instructs wholesale buyers who have distributed the product to other buyers to instruct them to destroy the onions as well. 

No, we don't know yet for sure that the onions are the source of the deadly Quarter Pounder E. coli outbreak. Federal officials are still investigating and tracking down exactly what has made people sick. However, the Taylor Farms recall is specifically "due to potential E. coli contamination," so it's probable it's related.

It's very possible that other restaurants and food service institutions also served contaminated onions. Some other restaurants that use US Foods as a supplier or distributor have received the recall notice. One chain, Illegal Pete's, reported that it received the recall notice, but stated that they don't use the recalled onion products. 

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