Dozens of people across the U.S. have contracted E. coli traced to ingredients in McDonald’s Quarter Pounders, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Tuesday.
As a result, McDonald’s announced it has proactively removed two ingredients from stores across two impacted regions, but leadership has assured that a majority of other menu items are not impacted, according to the CDC investigation.
So far, 49 people from 10 states have fallen ill with a strain known as E. coli O157:H7, which causes a severe intestinal infection in humans.
Most of the cases have been in Colorado, which has 27 reported cases, and Nebraska, which has nine reported cases, according to the CDC.
Ten people have been hospitalized, including a child with complications from hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) — a disease that affects the kidneys. An older person in Colorado has died, according to the CDC.
Every patient interviewed by the CDC said they ate at McDonald’s before falling ill and most said they ate Quarter Pounder hamburgers, specifically.