MCDONALD鈥橲 on Sunday ruled out beef patties as a source of the E. coli outbreak linked to Quarter Pounder hamburgers, which has killed at least one person and sickened nearly 75 others.
鈥淲e remain very confident that any contaminated product related to this outbreak has been removed from our supply chain and is out of all McDonald鈥檚 restaurants,鈥 the fastfood chain鈥檚 Chief Supply Chain Officer Cesar Pina said in a statement.
The Colorado Department of Agriculture said that all subsamples from multiple lots of McDonald鈥檚 brand fresh and frozen beef patties had tested negative for E. coli, adding that it had completed beef testing and does not anticipate receiving further samples.
McDonald鈥檚 said it would resume distribution of fresh supplies of the Quarter Pounder and that it is expected to be available in all restaurants in the coming week, according to the statement.
Regulators had been investigating whether McDonald鈥檚 beef patties could be affected.
The US Food and Drug Administration and the US Department of Agriculture didn鈥檛 immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
E. coli is killed in beef when cooked properly. The McDonald鈥檚 Quarter Pounder is served with raw, slivered onions; affected restaurants will serve the burgers without such onions.
US fastfood chains have pulled fresh onions out of their menu items after the vegetable was named as the likely source of an E. coli outbreak.
McDonald鈥檚 has pulled the Quarter Pounder from about one-fifth of its US restaurants, including in Colorado, Kansas, Utah and Wyoming, and in parts of Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico and Oklahoma.
Past E. coli outbreaks have hampered sales at big fastfood restaurants as customers avoid affected chains. 鈥 Reuters
