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McDonald's Quarter Pounder gets back on the menu after thorough investigation, clears beef patties of E. coli link and points to onions as the culprit

In a recent development in McDonald’s Quarter Pounder is under investigation as the potential source of E.coli contamination has been ruled out. The fast-food giant, McDonald's on October 27 claimed that its beef patties are the origin of the outbreak. The contamination caught fire when an individual lost his life and around 75 fell sick in several other states. In a statement, Cesar Pina, Chief Supply Chain Officer for McDonald’s, said, “We remain very confident that any contaminated product related to this outbreak has been removed from our supply chain and is out of all McDonald’s restaurants.”

The Colorado Department of Agriculture corroborated McDonald's findings, saying that all subsamples taken from different lots of fresh and frozen McDonald's brand beef patties were E. coli-free. The officials said that beef testing is over and that there is no need for additional samples. With this confirmation, McDonald's is set to resume the distribution of fresh Quarter Pounder supplies to its restaurants, which are expected to be fully stocked by the coming week.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), the agencies investigating the source of contamination could not be reached immediately to return requests for comment.

1.  coli bacteria, which are killed in beef at proper temperatures, can still cause risk when certain raw ingredients are used. Traditionally, the Quarter Pounder is served with raw, slivered onions that are now the focus of the probe. To reduce risks, McDonald's said affected restaurants will serve Quarter Pounders without onions until further notice. In similar action, other fast-food chains have removed the raw onions from their menu items after the vegetable had been identified as a likely source of the outbreak.

The outbreak forced McDonald's to pull the Quarter Pounder from approximately one-fifth of its U.S. restaurants, primarily located in states such as Colorado, Kansas, Utah, and Wyoming, as well as parts of Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. Such high sensitivity is manifested in the fast-food sector; past E. coli outbreaks seriously affected the confidence and sales of consumers.

McDonald's said it would do everything it could to ensure food safety, and the company also went out of its way to make sure that there were no infected goods left within the distribution channels. According to Pina, as told to The Drum, the company continued working on maintaining a secured chain of supply, and he was even confident that no affected merchandise was still in motion within the market.