Taco Bell, KFC, Burger King remove onions over E. coli outbreak
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KFC and Taco Bell have removed fresh onions from select restaurants. Photo: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Yum! Brands confirmed to Axios that it has removed fresh onions from select Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants as it monitors a multistate E. coli outbreak.
Why it matters: The company said the move was "out of an abundance of caution" and done proactively.
Catch up quick: Health agencies, including the CDC and the FDA, continue to investigate the outbreak first reported Tuesday that has been linked to McDonald's Quarter Pounders.
- The CDC shared increased numbers Friday that include 75 cases in 13 states with one reported death.
- Colorado has had the most illness with 26 cases.
- Health officials have said they are still working to confirm which food ingredient is contaminated.
Taylor Farms onion recall
Driving the news: McDonald's confirmed to Axios Thursday that Taylor Farms is the supplier of the onions removed from select restaurants.
- Taylor Farms is voluntarily recalling specific onion products from a Colorado facility in response to the outbreak.
- US Foods, a distributor for Taylor Farms, told Axios Thursday that it is contacting impacted customers about the recall on behalf of Taylor Farms Colorado.
- US Foods told Axios it is not a distributor of record for McDonald's restaurants and McDonald's restaurants are not included in the recall notifications issued about the Taylor Farms Colorado onion products recall.
Denver-based chain Illegal Pete's is temporarily taking onions off its menu, news website Denverite reports.
Fresh onions pulled from Yum! Brands restaurants
The latest: Yum! Brands wouldn't say how many of its restaurants are impacted by removing onions or where the restaurants were located.
- "We will continue following supplier and regulatory guidance to ensure the ongoing safety and quality of our food," a company spokesperson told Axios.
Burger King pulls onions in 5% of restaurants
Burger King told Axios that it gets some onions from Taylor Farms and has "proactively asked our 5% of restaurants who received whole onions distributed by this facility to dispose of them immediately two days ago and we are in the process of restocking them from other facilities."
- The chain said it has not had contact with "health authorities and no indications of illness."
- It said that there "is no crossover with McDonald's for the vast majority of our onion facilities" and that the company reviewed its restaurant supply because of recent announcements.
Editor's note: This story was updated with increased E. coli case numbers from the CDC. Find the latest E. coli story here.
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