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McDonald’s Announces $100M Spend To Bring Back Customers Following E. Coli Outbreak
November 18, 2024
McDonald’s is trying to lure customers back into its restaurants following a devastating E. coli outbreak that led to 104 people falling ill, as of Nov. 13. To do so, the chain is prepared to spend $100 million.
The Associated Press reports that according to the fast-food giant, the most severely impacted franchises would receive $65 million directly. The other $35 million will be “invested in traffic-driving programs, including marketing efforts,” per an employee memo CNBC viewed. The memo also stated that McDonald’s will be driving “local recovery plans for highly impacted markets.”
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the E. coli was most likely caused by sliced onions on the Quarter Pounders. Onions that may have been connected to the epidemic were recalled by California’s Taylor Farms. Furthermore, according to the Food and Drug Administration, “There does not appear to be a continued food safety concern related to this outbreak at McDonald’s restaurants.”
Regardless, the company sales were negatively impacted by the E. coli outbreak.
Early in the outbreak, numerous locations pulled Quarter Pounders from their menus. For the 900 locations that temporarily ceased providing the burgers with onions, the fast-food giant found another supplier. McDonald’s has been serving Quarter Pounders with sliced onions all around the country for the past week.
Not Just McDonald’s
McDonald’s wasn’t the only restaurant impacted by the sliced onions recall. Burger King and KFC, which were also affected by the E. coli outbreak, stopped serving fresh onions.
Burger King stated at the time that “there is no crossover with McDonald’s for the vast majority of our onion facilities” after reviewing its “restaurant supply.” The fast-food chain advised all of its locations to discard the onions it had in its restaurants out of caution, even though it claimed that it “only uses whole, fresh onions” in its restaurants and that only a small percentage of its locations “do receive onions distributed from the Taylor Farms Colorado facility.”
Yum! Brands, the parent company of Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and KFC, also admitted that it had removed fresh onions from its eateries “out of an abundance of caution.”
“We will continue following supplier and regulatory guidance to ensure the ongoing safety and quality of our food,” a representative for the conglomerate told Today in October.
Due to the recall and concerns about the E. coli epidemic, the Colorado restaurant chain Illegal Pete’s also temporarily took onions off its menus.
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