CDC says McDonald’s E. coli outbreak is over 

CDC says McDonald’s E. coli outbreak is over 


In this photo illustration, a McDonald’s Quarter Pounder hamburger meal is seen at a McDonald’s on October 23, 2024 in the Flatbush neighborhood in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. 

Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday said the deadly E. coli outbreak linked to slivered onions served at McDonald’s is over, more than a month after the agency began its probe of the spread. 

The CDC said 104 people in 14 states were infected in the outbreak. It led to 27 hospitalizations and one previously reported death of an older adult in Colorado. 

The agency first announced the outbreak on Oct. 22. The CDC pointed to fresh slivered onions served on Quarter Pounders and other menu items as the likely source of this outbreak.

Quarter Pounder hamburgers are a core menu item for McDonald’s, raking in billions of dollars each year. The company temporarily removed those burgers from some locations following the outbreak, but has since brought back the menu item.

While the outbreak is formally over, McDonald’s is still dealing with the sales fallout.

Foot traffic to its U.S. restaurants was down 6.6% on Nov. 18 compared with a year earlier, according to a research note from Gordon Haskett. That’s an improvement from a low point of a seven-day rolling average of 11% traffic declines on Oct. 29.

The 10 states that the CDC first connected to the outbreak have seen steeper traffic declines, like a combined fall of 9.5% on Nov. 18, according to the note.

The company is also reportedly planning to invest more than $100 million in marketing and targeted financial assistance for affected franchisees.

McDonald’s has brought back its popular McRib, starting Tuesday, despite a “farewell tour” last year. The chain will also roll out a new McValue menu in January, in the hopes of appealing to consumers looking for cheap deals.

Shares of McDonald’s have fallen 7% since the CDC first linked the chain’s Quarter Pounders to the outbreak. The company has a market cap of $209.6 billion.



Source

Supreme Court endorses Obamacare panel that requires free preventive care
Health

Supreme Court endorses Obamacare panel that requires free preventive care

Demonstrators in support of U.S. President Barack Obama’s health-care law, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), hold up ‘ACA is Here to Stay’ signs after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to save Obamacare tax subsidies outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. June 25, 2015. Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images WASHINGTON — The […]

Read More
Supreme Court rules for South Carolina over bid to defund Planned Parenthood
Health

Supreme Court rules for South Carolina over bid to defund Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood signage is displayed outside of a health care clinic in Los Angeles, California on May 16, 2023.  Patrick T. Fallon | AFP | Getty Images WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled for South Carolina over its effort to defund Planned Parenthood, concluding that individual Medicaid patients cannot sue to enforce their […]

Read More
Healthy Returns: New weight loss drug data show Eli Lilly is gaining ground
Health

Healthy Returns: New weight loss drug data show Eli Lilly is gaining ground

A sign with the company logo sits outside of the headquarters of Eli Lilly in Indianapolis, Indiana, on March 17, 2024. Scott Olson | Getty Images A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Healthy Returns newsletter, which brings the latest health-care news straight to your inbox. Subscribe here to receive future editions. Competition in […]

Read More