Yellow onion recall prompts Colorado restaurant chain to pull onions, day after feds link E. coli outbreak to McDonald’s
Colorado Sun
Taylor Farms, a California-based produce grower, issued a recall for its yellow onions, a day after sliced onions were named as the possible cause of an E.coli outbreak linked to McDonald’s that has killed one person and sickened 26 people across Colorado.
It’s unclear if the recall is linked to the problems at the fast food burger chain, but the notice has prompted other businesses to pull onions from menus as a precaution, including Illegal Pete’s, a Colorado-based chain of fast-casual burrito restaurants.
Food supplier U.S. Foods, which purchases its onions through Taylor Farms, notified Illegal Pete’s about Taylor Farms’ onion recall about 12:40 p.m. Wednesday, according to a staffwide memo.
Managers of each restaurant were contacted “as quickly as possible” to follow the recall process and dispose of any yellow onions and foods that were prepared with the onions, the company said.
The recall was made due to a potential E. coli contamination, the notice said. It lists four types of yellow onions, including diced, peeled and whole onions.
Pete Turner, founder of the Colorado restaurant chain, said Illegal Pete’s doesn’t use the same sliced onions as those used on McDonald’s Quarter Pounder hamburgers, but said his restaurants were taking the recall seriously.
“We believe Taylor Farms is doing this through an abundance of caution and we agree with the decision,” Turner said in an email.
“We have had zero reports of any illnesses, so we’re confident that our onions weren’t affected, but obviously heeded the recall released today,” he said. “This is the very first we were told of any possible issue.”
The company is working with U.S. Foods to find a different source of onions to deliver to its restaurants.
Federal investigators are still working with state and local public health officials to determine what caused one person in Mesa County to die and 25 other people across Colorado to be sickened from an E. coli outbreak.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that officials think the onions used in McDonald’s Quarter Pounders could be the culprit, but haven’t ruled out the beef patties.
Nationwide, the outbreak has been tracked among 49 people in 10 states, but the highest number of infected people are in Colorado, according to the CDC.
At least 10 cases have been linked to Mesa County, including an older adult with underlying health conditions who died after contracting E. coli, a spokesperson with the county’s health department said.
Cases were also reported from people who live in Arapahoe, Chaffee, El Paso, Gunnison, Larimer, Routt, Teller and Weld counties, said Hope Shuler, a spokesperson for CDPHE. But a person may not have eaten at a McDonald’s in the county where they reside.
“We suspect that all Colorado McDonald’s locations received ingredients from the same suppliers, so we believe all McDonald’s may be affected,” she said.
In other onion news, more than 1,000 cases of green onions were recalled over the weekend because of a possible Salmonella contamination. The green onions were shipped across Canada and the U.S. to retailers including Trader Joe’s.