McDonald's Recall Sparks Other Fast Food Restaurants To Pull Onions. Here's Which Ones

The fallout from the recent McDonald's quarter pounder E. coli outbreak continues — but this time, at a different fast food company altogether. Yum! Brands Inc. is nixing onions from some of its Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut locations, it told Bloomberg in a statement today. So far Yum! is doing so "out of an abundance of caution," it said, mentioning that it "will continue following supplier and regulatory guidance to ensure the ongoing safety and quality of our food."

No specific list of restaurants or locations was mentioned, so which regions will be affected isn't quite clear yet. The company also didn't say which suppliers it gets its onions from, so as of now, there's no telling whether or not the decision is directly related to the McDonald's situation. This is just a reminder that despite health regulations being in place, sometimes food contamination can cast a wide net and affect a large swath of customers.

The current McDonald's situation is particularly of note, because 49 people have been sickened, with one death among the group so far. It's quite possible that more people were affected because the investigation is still ongoing, and not everyone who consumed the tainted product may have felt sick enough to report the issue. And fast food environments are commonly the center of outbreaks, since bacteria can hide in things such as soda fountains, cooking surfaces, and other areas.

Past mass fast food poisoning events include a string from Chipotle-related outbreaks (the cause of which remains unsolved), and even though stringent health guidelines are usually built into standard operating procedures at chain restaurants, if a raw ingredient itself becomes tainted from higher up in the supply chain, things like this can slip through the cracks. We have a feeling that it's going to be a while before the root of the problem has officially been declared, but for now, expect a little more scrutiny around onions in the near future.