McDonald’s Shares Surge After Quarter Pounder Returns To Menu Amid E. Coli Outbreak

McDonald’s shares rose in New York on Monday morning after the fast-food chain announced Sunday that Quarter Pounders are back on the menu, following a brief removal due to a widespread E. coli outbreak. 

“McDonald’s was informed that the Colorado Department of Agriculture has completed their testing, the results of which confirm that there was no detection of E. coli in the samples taken of Quarter Pounder beef patties from restaurants in this area. We’ve been informed there is no further testing planned for beef patties,” MCD wrote in a press release. 

Last week, out of an abundance of caution, MCD nuked Quarter-Pound beef patties across the western parts of the country due to the E. coli outbreak, which sickened 75 people in 13 states, including 22 hospitalizations and one death. 

MCD said the 900 restaurants that received slivered onions from Taylor Farms’ Colorado Springs facility will resume sales of Quarter Pounders without slivered onions. This includes restaurants in Colorado, Kansas, and Wyoming, as well as portions of Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Utah.

Bloomberg published a visual showing the outbreak. 

Negative press around MCD sent foot traffic to the chain sliding nearly 5% last Wednesday from a year earlier, according to Bloomberg, citing data from Gordon Haskett Research Advisors.

In markets, MCD closed down 7.5% last week, the worst five-day stretch since March 2020.

Shares rebounded early Monday, up more than 2%. 

“The FDA is continuing its investigation into Taylor Farms’ Colorado Springs facility,” MCD said. 

Perhaps it’s time for lawmakers on Capitol Hill to investigate the vulnerabilities of America’s food supply chain, given the invasion of millions of unvetted migrants by Biden-Harris over the past 3.5 years – many of these migrants were dumped into the factory farms and food processing plants.