McDonald’s has decided to pull the popular Quarter Pounder burger — at least temporarily — in four states after it allegedly infected 49 customers with gastroenteritis and one death.
The problems with the burger that made its first appearance in 1971 and is a registered trademark of the company, as well as one of its most popular products, sent McDonald’s stock, of course, into a steep decline.
On news of the one-death and 49-illness outbreak blamed on McDonald’s, its shares fell as much as 9.6% in after-hours trading, shedding as much as $20 billion from its market value, before recovering to settle at 5, 8% lower.
McDonald’s: How the boom came about
As pointed out by Financial Timesthe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced Tuesday that the severe E. coli outbreak had infected 49 people, leaving 10 hospitalized and one elderly person dead. All those questioned by the authorities investigating her epidemicreported that they had eaten McDonald’s before becoming ill.
The health service said the outbreak appeared to be linked to the consumption of McDonald’s signature Quarter Pounder, with investigations focusing on fresh, chopped onions and the burgers as the ingredients suspected of contamination, with the chain trying to find the end of the thread.
They “paid dearly” for the burger
Most people affected by the outbreak were in the US states of Colorado and Nebraska, the CDC said. McDonald’s said it has temporarily withdrawn the sale of Quarter Pounders in four states, including Colorado, as well as in parts of eight other states in the US Midwest and Southwest.
“We take food safety extremely seriously and it’s the right thing to do,” McDonald’s North America supply chain manager Cesar Piña said of its decision to pull the products from its menus, explaining that the chain made the move due to a “lack of attention”.
Early findings from the investigation linked the outbreak to onions that came from a single supplier, which serves three distribution centers, Piña explained.
The US is McDonald’s largest market, with more than 13,000 operated and franchised stores. The fast-food group had sales of nearly $26 billion worldwide in the year that ended at the end of June.
Piña added that McDonald’s is “working closely with our suppliers to restock the Quarter Pounder in the coming weeks,” noting that other popular burgers, such as the Big Mac, are not affected.
What the CDC said
One of the 10 people hospitalized in the outbreak was a child suffering from complications from an E. coli infection, the CDC said.
Those infected as part of the outbreak all tested positive for the same strain of the bacteria, known as ‘O157:H7’. The CDC urged anyone who experiences severe symptoms after eating a Quarter Pounder, such as diarrhea, stomach cramps, vomiting and fever, “to seek medical attention and tell their provider what they ate.”
Improvements in food safety standards have helped eliminate E. coli outbreaks in the U.S., but the CDC still estimates that nearly 100,000 people get sick from the bacteria each year, resulting in about 3,270 hospitalizations and 30 deaths.
McDonald’s is not alone
More recently, the Center has been following outbreaks of E. coli strains linked to organic walnuts sold at health food stores in California and Washington, as well as another outbreak linked to the Raw Farm brand of cheddar cheese.
In 2022, the rival chain fast-food Wendy’s took the precautionary step of removing romaine lettuce from its burgers and sandwiches after the CDC investigated the ingredient in connection with an E. coli outbreak that sickened more than 100 people in six states. The agency never determined whether contaminated lettuce was ultimately the source of this particular outbreak.
Source: ot.gr
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