MCDONALD'S QUARTER POUNDER RETURNS TO US MENU AFTER E. COLI CLEARANCE

WASHINGTON, Oct 28 (Bernama-UPI) -- McDonald's will resume selling Quarter Pounder hamburgers in all restaurants this week, as it was informed results of testing showed no detection of E.coli in the beef patties, the US fast-food giant said, United Press International (UPI) reported.

The iconic US eatery pulled the Quarter Pounder from its menu in mostly Midwest and Mountain states early last week amid a growing E. coli outbreak linked to the hamburger sandwich.

As of Friday, at least 75 cases of E. coli have so far been detected in 13 states in the outbreak. At least 22 people have hospitalised and one person has died.

Last week, McDonald's identified slivered onions supplied to some 900 of its restaurants by Taylor Farms' Colorado Springs, Colo., facility as the potential source of the outbreak.

Late Sunday, McDonald's announced that testing by the Colorado Department of Agriculture confirmed that no E. Coli bacteria was found its Quarter Pounder beef patties.

“The issue appears to be contained to a particular ingredient and geography, and 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,” Cesar Piña, McDonald's North America chief supply chain officer, said in an internal message.

McDonald's said it was informed of the testing results over the weekend, and that it is asking its beef suppliers to produce a new supply of beef patties for the affected regions, with expectations the Quarter Pounder will be available in all restaurants in the coming week.

The 900 restaurants that received slivered onions from Taylor Farms' Colorado farm will resume selling Quarter Pounders but without slivered onions, it said.

Amid the outbreak, McDonald's announced it has indefinitely stopped sourcing onions from Taylor Farms' Colorado facility.

-- BERNAMA-UPI