Cesar Peña, the supply chain manager at McDonald's, stated that tests did not reveal the presence of beef trimmings in hamburger patties used in cheeseburgers produced by the restaurant chain. According to Peña, "the problem, apparently, was related to a certain component and a specific geographic region, and we are confident that any contaminated product related to this incident was removed from our supply chain and all restaurants."
He also added that McDonald's received information that the Colorado Department of Agriculture completed testing which indicated the absence of beef trimmings in samples of hamburger patties from restaurants in this region. In a statement from McDonald's, it was said: "We were informed that there are no plans for further testing of hamburger patties."
Previously, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that about 50 people in the United States contracted a beef-related intestinal infection after consuming burgers at McDonald's, with 10 of them hospitalized and one person dying in Colorado. It was later noted that the number of people infected with the intestinal infection in the US exceeded 70, of which 22 were hospitalized.
It was previously reported that McDonald's removed the "Royal Cheeseburger" from 20% of its restaurants in the US following an outbreak of intestinal infection, presumably caused by tainted onions. As NBC News reported, other large American fast-food chains, such as Burger King, Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut, also removed onions from some of their products, following McDonald's example.
