Onions recalled last month that are linked to a large outbreak of E. coli from McDonald’s Quarter Pounder hamburgers have been issued the highest risk classification by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Taylor Farms issued a recall for thousands of cases of slivered yellow onions on October 22 to McDonald’s restaurants and other food service customers in multiple states due to potential E. coli contamination. In the initial days that followed, the burgers were pulled from menus in several states, with the reported illnesses occurring between September 12 and October 21.
The FDA on Thursday issued a Class I risk classification for a large number of the affected onions, including those distributed to food service facilities in Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico and Utah.
A Class I risk classification means there is a “reasonable probability that the use of, or exposure to, a violative product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death.” There are three classifications in total.
Newsweek has contacted Taylor Farms for comment outside of normal working hours.
In the recall notice for the onions, the distributor urged customers to “stop using the affected product as soon as possible” and to “destroy” them.
The number of people infected by the bacteria linked to slivered onions on the Quarter Pounder burgers had risen to 104 across 14 states as of November 13, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Of these, 34 people were confirmed to have been hospitalized, one person in Colorado had died, and four others had developed potentially life-threatening kidney complications.
The state with the highest number of reported E. coli infections is Colorado, with at least 30 cases, followed by 19 in Montana, 13 in Nebraska, 10 in New Mexico, eight in Utah and Missouri, six in Wyoming, three in Kansas, two in Michigan and one case each in Iowa, North Carolina, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin.
“The true number of sick people in this outbreak is likely much higher than the number reported, and the outbreak may not be limited to the states with known illnesses. This is because many people recover without medical care and are not tested for E. coli,” the CDC said in a statement on Wednesday. “In addition, recent illnesses may not yet be reported as it usually takes 3 to 4 weeks to determine if a sick person is part of an outbreak.”
Tom Skinner, a public affairs officer at the CDC, previously told Newsweek that “interviews conducted by public health officials with those who were sick with E. coli and interviews with others who did not get sick led officials to suspect quarter pounders from McDonald’s as the source.”
FDA testing on recalled onions detected a strain of E. coli with a harmful toxin in one onion sample, but officials noted it did not match the strain responsible for the reported illnesses. Further sample results are still pending.
The onions used in these McDonald’s locations are now past their shelf life and are no longer in circulation. “At this time, there does not appear to be a continued food safety concern related to this outbreak at McDonald’s restaurants,” the FDA said.
The bacterial strain involved in this outbreak is responsible for approximately 74,000 infections, over 2,000 hospitalizations and 61 deaths in the United States each year, according to CDC data.
E. coli is a type of bacteria that normally lives in the intestines of people and animals, but certain strains can cause severe foodborne illness. While most E. coli strains are harmless, the type involved in this outbreak—known as Shiga toxin-producing E. coli—can cause serious infections and potentially life-threatening complications.
Symptoms typically appear within one to two days of consuming contaminated food and include fever, vomiting, diarrhea or bloody diarrhea and signs of dehydration such as low urine output, increased thirst and dizziness. The infection can lead to a severe kidney injury, particularly in children under 5, for whom E. coli poisoning requires urgent medical attention.
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