McDonald’s says E. Coli outbreak likely linked to Colorado Springs facility, says they will no longer source onions from there

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – McDonald’s released a statement on the source of the recent E. Coli outbreak, linking it to a facility in Colorado Springs.

11 News spoke with Bill Marler who is representing several people in a lawsuit against Mcdonald’s and he says people need to be careful if they have eaten at Mcdonald’s recently.

“I’m not a doctor. I’m just a lawyer, but I’ve seen a lot of this and I think during an outbreak people need to be aware,” Marler said.

On Friday, they released a statement saying the outbreak likely originated from slivered onions from Taylor Farms in Colorado Springs, commenting on the ongoing investigation from the FDA. As of October 22, they said they stopped selling the product as the investigation continues.

They added that they will not be sourcing onions from that facility and said other companies who used Taylor Farms have followed their lead.

You can read their full statement here.

Taylor Farms responded to 11 News when we asked about the outbreak. They provided the following statement:

“As a family-owned business, we take pride in providing safe, healthy fresh foods to people every day. It saddens us to see the illnesses and affected individuals and families from the current E. coli O157:H7 outbreak. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the individuals and their families impacted. Our priority remains the health and safety of our consumers. We have preemptively recalled yellow onions from our Taylor Farms Colorado facility that were sent to select foodservice customers. We continue to work with CDC and FDA who are investigating the source of the outbreak. All Taylor Farms products in the market today are safe to consume.”

One person died in Colorado from E. Coli linked to this.

The CDC said on Friday that 26 new illnesses had been reported since Tuesday, bringing the total number to 75. One death was reported in Colorado’s Mesa County linked to the outbreak.

One Colorado man has filed a lawsuit following the outbreak.

The CDC further stated that due to the precautions taken by McDonald’s and Taylor Farms, they believe the continued risk to the public is “very low.”

Marler, who tells 11 News he has been working in food safety law for decades says we will likely see more cases given the volume Taylor farms was distributing and other restaurants.

“Just two years ago Wendy’s had an outbreak that started out at 25 and wound up at 109 so these things happen,” Marler said.

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