McDonald's Quarter Pounder burgers are being supplied once more at eating places affected by the E. coli outbreak

A Double Quarter Pounder with cheese and fries prepared at a McDonald's restaurant in El Sobrante, California, USA, on Wednesday, October 23, 2024.

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

McDonald's Quarter Pounder burgers will be available again in about 900 restaurants this week after the fast food giant discontinued the menu item amid a deadly E. coli outbreak.

Affected restaurants — about a fifth of the company's U.S. footprint — will serve the Quarter Pounder burgers without slivers of onion for the foreseeable future as health authorities continue their investigation into the cause of the outbreak. This change affects restaurants in Colorado, Kansas and Wyoming, as well as parts of Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Utah.

“The issue appears to be isolated to a specific ingredient and region, and we remain highly confident that all contaminated products associated with this outbreak have been removed from our supply chain and are no longer available at all McDonald's restaurants,” said Cesar Pina, chief supply chain officer for McDonald's North American operations, said in a letter to the company's U.S. system.

Pina said Colorado Department of Agriculture testing failed to detect E. coli in samples of beef patties collected from area restaurants. The agency has no plans to further test the company's beef.

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Instead, health officials have focused on the onion slices used in Quarter Pounders as a likely suspect in the outbreak. The Food and Drug Administration is still investigating whether the onions produced by Taylor Farms are responsible. McDonald's has indefinitely stopped using Taylor Farms as a supplier of the ingredient.

McDonald's is now asking its beef suppliers to produce a new supply of fresh beef patties to be used in its Quarter Pounders, Pina wrote in a letter to the company's U.S. system. Customers can expect the menu item to be available again at all restaurants next week, although this will be on a rolling basis depending on delivery and replenishment operations.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that the E. coli outbreak linked to McDonald's has resulted in 75 cases in 13 states. Of the 61 patients for whom information is available, 22 were hospitalized and two people developed a serious condition that can lead to kidney failure, called hemolytic uremic syndrome. The agency also previously said an older adult died in Colorado.

According to the cases reported so far, the outbreak occurred between September 27th and October 11th. According to company spokespersons, McDonald's typically sells about a million Quarter Pounders in the affected region within two weeks.

Joe Erlinger, president of McDonald's USA, apologized to customers who felt “sick, scared or unsafe” in a video posted on the company's website.

“On behalf of the McDonald's system, I want you to hear from me: We are sorry,” he said.

McDonald's is expected to report its third-quarter results before the market close on Tuesday. The company's shares have fallen 7% since the CDC linked the E. coli outbreak to its restaurants.