McDonald’s confirms beef patties not to blame for E. coli outbreak

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) has confirmed that its beef patties were not to blame for the E. coli outbreak linked to Quarter Pounders that killed one person and sickened 75 others.

The fast food giant was informed by the Colorado Department of Agriculture that E. coli was not detected in samples of the beef patties taken from restaurants in the impacted area.

“We’ve been informed there is no further testing planned for beef patties,” Cesar Piña, McDonald’s (MCD) North America chief supply chain officer, said in a statement.

The company plans to resume fresh beef patty supplies and Quarter Pounder sales in all restaurants in the coming week.

Raw, slivered onions served with the Quarter Pounders – likely sourced from a single facility – are seen as the culprit for the outbreak.

“The 900 restaurants that historically received slivered onions from Taylor Farms’ Colorado Springs facility will resume sales of Quarter Pounders without slivered onions,” Piña noted.

“… 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,” he added.