At least 49 people in 10 states, including Oregon, have been sickened with E. coli food poisoning, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Federal health officials said Tuesday, Oct. 23, that at least one person in Colorado has died and nearly a dozen others were hospitalized, including one child. Each of the infected people had recently eaten at a Quarter Pounder hamburger at McDonald’s shortly before symptoms began.
The CDC says Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oregon, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming have seen cases between Sept. 27 and Oct. 11.
It’s not clear which ingredient is the cause of the food poisoning, but in a statement, McDonald’s said it likely came from contaminated onions from a single supplier. Quarter Pounder hamburgers have been removed from McDonald’s menues in the impacted states, as well as parts of Idago, Nevada, New Mexico and Oklahoma.
According to the Associated Press, the news comes amid an already difficult year for McDonald’s, which has seen sales drop for the first time in years in the second quarter as inflation-weary customers turn to cheaper options.