Is it safe to order a quarter pounder at McDonald’s amid the E. coli outbreak? This is what health authorities say

McDonald’s, the world’s most famous burger chain, is embroiled in a major controversy in recent days. An outbreak of the dangerous E. coli bacteria linked to the Quarter Pounder has, so far, left at least 75 people ill in 13 different states. Twenty-two of them have been hospitalized, and one person has died in Colorado.

Although McDonald’s initially stopped selling the Quarter Pounder in hundreds of restaurants, today the chain announced it will resume sales of the product this week. But is it safe to order?

Why is McDonald’s selling the Quarter Pounder again?

The company announced this Sunday in a statement that the Quarter Pounder will be back on sale in approximately 900 restaurants where it was previously removed. This decision was made after testing ruled out beef patties as the source of the outbreak, according to McDonald’s.

“The Department of Agriculture received multiple lots of fresh and frozen beef patties collected from various Colorado McDonald’s locations associated with the E. coli investigation. All samples were found to be negative for E. coli,” the company said in a statement.

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What is the source of the E. coli outbreak?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) believes that slivered onions are the likely source of contamination. These onions are supplied entirely by one provider, Taylor Farms, specifically from its Colorado Springs facility. McDonald’s removed all onions from this facility and has decided to stop using them indefinitely.

“The 900 McDonald’s restaurants that normally received slivered onions from Taylor Farms’ Colorado Springs facility will resume sales of Quarter Pounders without slivered onions,” the company stated.

That said, it remains unclear if the recalled onions were the source of the outbreak. The FDA is still investigating whether onions produced by Taylor Farms are responsible. The FDA and CDC say they are continuing to work with partners to investigate.

Is it safe to eat a Quarter Pounder at McDonald’s?

The head of the CDC’s Outbreak Response and Prevention Branch, Matt Wise, said that although more cases may appear in the coming days, now that the tainted slivered onions have been removed from the burgers, customers should be safe. “For someone walking into a McDonald’s today,” he said, “the risk is greatly reduced.”

McDonald’s USA President Joe Erlinger apologized to customers in a video posted on the company’s YouTube channel. “On behalf of the McDonald’s system, I want you to hear from me: we are sorry,” he said.

How dangerous is E. coli? Here are the symptoms.

E. coli is found in many places and for the most part are harmless, but, like other bacteria, certain types can make you sick with diarrhea, urinary tract infections, pneumonia, sepsis, and other illnesses according to the CDC. E. coli is present in the environment, on food and in water as well as in the intestines of people and animals.

In fact, most of them that are living in our intestinal tract help keep the system healthy, digest foods so that we can get the nutrients from them and produce vitamins. They also protect us from other harmful germs.

We can get infected with E. coli after swallowing the germ in contaminated water or that is on food, or touching animals, environments or other people and then carrying the bacteria to our mouths. Thus protecting ourselves is relatively easy. “The best ways to prevent infection are by keeping your hands clean, preparing food safely, and drinking safe water,” advises the CDC.

According to the CDC, E. Coli can cause dehydration, vomiting, bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramps, and can be deadly, in the worst-case scenario.

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*This article was written in Spanish and translated with the help of AI.