Amid a deadly E. coli outbreak linked to McDonald’s Quarter Pounders, Burger King and Yum Brands are pulling fresh onions from some of their own locations.
Yum is yanking the topping from some KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell locations “out of an abundance of caution,” Yum said Thursday in a statement to CBS News. Yum did not specify the locations impacted.
“We will continue following supplier and regulatory guidance to ensure the ongoing safety and quality of our food,” a spokesperson for Yum said.
Burger King said it has asked the 5% of its locations that received onions from a Taylor Farms Colorado facility to dispose of them two days ago. “We are in the process of restocking them from other facilities,” according to a spokesperson.
The fast-food chain has not heard from health authorities and has not received any indications of illness, the Burger King spokesperson added.
The developments come two days after the federal health officials said an E. coli outbreak likely tied to onions used on McDonald’s Quarter Pounders had sickened at least 49 people in 10 states, killing one.
McDonald’s removed the product from about a fifth of its 13,000 U.S. locations as federal and state health officials work to confirm the source of the bacteria.
As most of those stricken reported eating McDonald’s Quarter Pounder burgers, investigators are working to figure out if slivered onions or beef patties are behind the outbreak.
McDonald’s locations in Colorado, Kansas, Utah, Wyoming and parts of Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico and Oklahoma have temporarily stopped selling Quarter Pounders.
