McDonald’s Corp (NYSE:MCD) and food safety officials have ruled out beef as the source of an E. coli outbreak linked to the chain’s Quarter Pounders.
What Happened: The Colorado Department of Agriculture, after conducting numerous tests on fresh and frozen beef patties from state McDonald’s locations, found no traces of E. coli.
Despite this, the source of the outbreak is still under investigation, with onions served on the burgers being the focus.
The E. coli outbreak, which was revealed by federal health officials last week, has affected 75 individuals and led to one fatality across 13 states. McDonald’s has removed the Quarter Pounders from menus in the affected areas and is cooperating with regulatory agencies investigating the outbreak.
Following the test results, McDonald’s plans to resume selling Quarter Pounders in the impacted restaurants in the coming week. However, fresh onions will not be used to dress the burgers in the affected areas for the foreseeable future.
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McDonald’s ceased purchasing onions from a Colorado facility run by Taylor Farms, the supplier of the slivered onions to McDonald’s locations associated with the cases. Taylor Farms had recalled yellow onions from its Colorado Springs, Colo., facility last week and stated that no traces of E. coli were found in pathogen tests so far.
Why It Matters: McDonald’s is still awaiting test results for the onions implicated in the outbreak. The Food and Drug Administration announced on Friday that it was collecting onion samples for analysis as part of its efforts to determine the cause of the outbreak.
This development comes in the wake of a series of challenges for McDonald’s. The fast-food giant has been under scrutiny for raising prices faster than inflation, a move that drew criticism from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
Additionally, the E. coli outbreak led to McDonald’s rivals, including Burger King and Yum Brands, removing onions from their menus.
Despite these challenges, analysts have suggested that McDonald’s is well-positioned to contain the outbreak and that the impact on the company’s stock is likely to be minimal.
Price Action: McDonald’s Corp closed at $292.61 on Friday, down 2.97% for the day. In after-hours trading, the stock saw a slight increase of 0.031%. Over the past five days, McDonald’s has dropped 7.66%. Year-to-date, the stock is down 1.49%, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
