Fast-food chains in US hold onions amid E. coli outbreak

LONGMONT, Colorado — US fast-food chains were pulling fresh onions off their menu items on Thursday after the vegetable was named as the likely source of an E. coli outbreak at McDonald's restaurants that has sickened 49 people and killed one.

Restaurant Brands International, parent of McDonald's rival Burger King, and Yum Brands said they were removing fresh onions from menu items. Roughly 5 percent of Burger King locations have removed onions from the menu, a Burger King spokesperson said in a statement.

McDonald's said on Thursday that Taylor Farms was the supplier of the sliced onions that have been removed. Taylor Farms did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company has recalled several batches of yellow onions produced in a Colorado facility, according to a recall memo on Wednesday by US Foods, one of the largest US suppliers of food service operations.

About 5 percent of Burger King stores also get supplies from Taylor Farms, but a company spokesperson said Burger King has not been contacted yet by health authorities or had any illnesses. Yum, which operates KFC, Pizza Hut and the Taco Bell chains, said it was removing onions "out of an abundance of caution".

The US Food and Drug Administration on Thursday also confirmed that Taylor Farms was the supplier for the affected McDonald's locations and that the company has initiated a voluntary recall.

The US Department of Agriculture said late on Wednesday that fresh onions were the likely source of the outbreak.

Past E. coli outbreaks have hampered sales at big fast-food restaurants as customers avoid the affected chains for fear of illness. Regulators are still investigating whether McDonald's beef patties could be affected, but E. coli is killed in beef when cooked properly, whereas the McDonald's Quarter Pounder is served with raw, slivered onions.

A Colorado man has filed what appears to be the first lawsuit against McDonald's over an E. coli outbreak.

The lawsuit, filed in Circuit Court in Cook County, Illinois, on Wednesday, alleges that Eric Stelly ate food from a Greeley, Colorado, McDonald's on Oct 4 and tested positive for E. coli a few days later. Colorado health officials later told Stelly that his E. coli was connected to the McDonald's outbreak, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit, which seeks more than $50,000 in damages, claims McDonald's was negligent in its handling and care of the food. Shares pared gains after news of the lawsuit and were last up 0.5 percent.

Representatives of McDonald's did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Agencies via Xinhua