Burger King, Taco Bell, KFC, and others pull onions after McDonald's E. coli an outbreak

Big-name fast food companies, including Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut, and Burger King, are reportedly removing onions from their menus in some locations due to a deadly multistate outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 connected to McDonald's Quarter Pounders.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have not confirmed the source of the outbreak germs, but the leading hypotheses are the beef patties and sliced onions used in the famous burger.

Taylor Farms, a supplier of peeled and diced yellow onions to McDonald's, recalled them on Wednesday, according to a notice from US Foods, a food service provider.

"It is urgent that you stop using affected product as soon as possible," the notice reads. Restaurants were advised that if they had any of the recalled onions in their inventory, they should "DESTROY THE PRODUCT."

Yum Brands, the parent company of KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell, followed suit on Thursday, announcing that fresh onions would be removed from some of its restaurants' menus. Restaurant Brands International, which owns Burger King, did the same.

Burger King stated that its restaurant "only uses whole, fresh onions" and that personnel chop, peel, wash, and slice them every day.

“Despite no contact from health authorities and no indications of illness, we 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 statement concluded.

A Yum! A brand spokeswoman also confirmed that onions have been removed from several Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and KFC locations.

“As we continue to monitor the recently reported E. coli outbreak, and out of an abundance of caution, we have proactively removed fresh onions from select Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC restaurants,” the spokesperson said. "We will continue following supplier and regulatory guidance to ensure the ongoing safety and quality of our food."

As of Thursday, the E. coli outbreak included 49 patients in 10 states. Ten of them were hospitalized, including one child who had a life-threatening condition. One elderly person in Colorado has died.

Colorado has 26 cases, Nebraska has 9, Utah has four, Wyoming has four, and Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Oregon, and Wisconsin each have one.