McDonald's supplier recalls onions as officials anticipate surge in E. coli outbreak cases

Taylor Farms has issued a recall for raw onions after preliminary data from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration suggested the ingredient was “a likely source of contamination” in a deadly E. coli outbreak linked to McDonald's Quarter Pounders.

In a recall notice from McDonald's distributor US Foods, obtained by ABC News, its supplier Taylor Farms announced a recall of four raw onion products “due to possible contamination with E. coli” out of an abundance of caution.

“Our records indicate that the affected product may have been shipped to your location. It is urgent that you stop using the affected product as soon as possible,” the notice said.

The recall included four different products: 30-pound bags of peeled jumbo yellow onions, 4-5 pound bags of 3/8-inch diced fresh yellow onions, 5-pound bags of fresh diced yellow onions and 6-5 pound bags of whole, peeled yellow onions.

“If you find any of the affected products, please record the number of cases and then destroy the product,” US Foods said in the statement.

According to Bloomberg, Taylor Farms has not yet found any traces of E. coli and it is unclear whether the recall is related to the outbreak investigation at McDonald's, but Taylor Farms is an onion supplier to the fast food chain.

Latest CDC data on the E. coli outbreak at McDonald's

At the time of publication, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported 49 cases of E. coli, with 10 hospitalizations and one death, in 10 states linked to McDonald's Quarter Pounders.

Health authorities assume that the number of sick people will increase.

“This is a rapidly moving outbreak investigation. Most of those sickened report eating Quarter Pounder hamburgers from McDonald's, and investigators are working quickly to confirm which food ingredient is contaminated,” the agency said in a food safety alert. “McDonald's has withdrawn the ingredients for these burgers and they are not available for sale in some states.”

As a result, McDonald's has removed the Quarter Pounder from menus in states affected by the outbreak, which represent 20% of U.S. locations.

McDonald's said Wednesday that it had proactively removed two ingredients from stores in two affected regions, but the company's leadership team assured that most other menu items were not affected, according to the CDC investigation.

“Other beef products at McDonald's, including cheeseburgers, hamburgers, Big Mac, McDouble and double cheeseburgers, are not affected,” Joe Erlinger, president of McDonald's USA, said Wednesday.

A McDonald's spokesman said either fresh onions obtained from a supplier or beef patties used in the Quarter Pounder could be behind the outbreak.

If onions are found to be the source of the E. coli outbreak, it would be the first time onions have been carriers of this particular strain of bacteria, company spokespeople said Wednesday.

Speakers also reiterated that the onions used in the Quarter Pounders, as determined by CDC traceability data, came from suppliers that also test for E. coli.