McDonald’s E. coli outbreak cleared by CDC after investigation

McDonald’s has officially been cleared by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) after the company’s deathly E. coli outbreak erupted in late October.

According to Michael Gonda, the American fast food chain’s chief impact officer, and Cesar Piña, chief supply chain officer, the CDC’s “respective investigations into E. coli at McDonald’s have been closed.”

The announcement comes after at least 104 illnesses, 34 hospitalizations, one death, and four life-threatening kidney diseases were recorded from the E. coli outbreak linked to the McDonald’s Quarter Pounder hamburger in 14 states, per a CDC report.

“There were no new illnesses associated with consumers eating at McDonald’s following our swift and decisive action on October 22, 2024,” Gonda and Piña said in a statement. “This reinforces the importance of our values, particularly in moving quickly to do the right thing and to always put people first.

They continued: “The process to reach this point has at times felt long, challenging and uncertain. But it is critical that public officials examine every possible angle, and we are deeply grateful that they moved quickly to identify and, in partnership with McDonald’s, contain the issue.”

On October 22, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a food safety alert that recorded 49 cases of E. coli across 10 states: Colorado, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oregon, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. The first case of E. coli was recorded on September 27.

McDonald’s launched an investigation with the CDC, removing ingredients that could be potential causes.

A statement confirmed the franchise decided to remove “slivered onions from impacted restaurants” and paused “distribution of slivered onions in the impacted area,” in addition to temporarily halting all Quarter Pounder sales.

As of October 27, McDonald’s “resumed normal operations and sales” of the menu item with an alternate supplier for slivered onions.

However, government officials continued to investigate by examining an “onion grower of interest” in Washington state, after the raw slivered onions were identified as the likely source of the E. coli. The onions were said to have come from Taylor Farms, a single supplier in California.

Most recently, contaminated organic carrots sold at Walmart, Target, Kroger, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe’s were recalled after one person died and 40 people became sick with E. coli from snacking on the packaged produce item.

In early November, the CDC confirmed these infections were linked to both baby carrots and whole-bagged carrots that came from California’s Grimmway Farms.

Grimmway Farms, a family-owned company, issued a voluntary recall of the carrots after they’d been shipped to stores in Canada and Puerto Rico.