E. coli outbreak linked to McDonald’s Quarter Pounders

TheStreet’s Conway Gittens brings you the biggest news of the day, including what investors are watching and an E. coli outbreak at McDonald’s.

Transcript

00:00I'm Conway Gittins reporting from the New York Stock Exchange. Here's what we're watching on

00:03the street today. Stocks are under pressure Wednesday as interest rates in the bond market

00:07remain elevated. Comments from some members of the Federal Reserve suggest the economy won't

00:12need as many interest rate cuts as earlier believed. Meanwhile, earnings season is

00:17providing little upside. Starbucks pre-announced somber quarterly results and withdrew its forecast

00:23for the year. Turning to other headlines, an E. coli outbreak linked to McDonald's has resulted

00:29in one death and sickened 49 people. At least 10 of those people were so sick they had to be sent

00:35to the hospital. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the outbreak

00:40started in September and stretches across 10 states. Most of the cases were in Colorado. The

00:46CDC says most of the people started feeling ill after eating a quarter pounder hamburger. Right

00:52now the focus is on the slivered onions used on the burger as the source of the sickness.

00:57According to McDonald's, this ingredient was sourced from a single supplier that serves three

01:02of its distribution centers. In a statement posted on its website, McDonald's says, quote,

01:07the health and safety of our people and customers is our top priority. McDonald's has temporarily

01:14pulled the item off the menu in the areas impacted. It also said it, quote, will continue to work with

01:21Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and are committed to providing timely updates as

01:26we restore our full menu. While the outbreak seems to be contained to one section of the United

01:32States, it does present a new challenge for McDonald's. Sales were already under pressure

01:37as consumers continue to respond to stubbornly high food inflation. One analyst pointed out

01:42it took Chipotle a year and a half to recover from an E. coli outbreak in 2015, while sales

01:47at Jack in the Box slid for a year when it dealt with an outbreak back in 1993. That'll do it for

01:53your daily briefing from the New York Stock Exchange. I'm Conway Gittins with The Street.