McDonald's is investing $100 million to bring customers back to stores after an outbreak of E. coli food poisoning tied to onions on the fast-food giant's Quarter Pounder hamburgers.
The investments include $65 million that will go directly to the hardest-hit franchises, the company said.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that slivered onions on the Quarter Pounders were the likely source of the E. coli. Taylor Farms in California recalled onions potentially linked to the outbreak.
Colorado reported at least 30 cases; Montana reported 19; Nebraska, 13; and New Mexico, 10. The illnesses were reported between Sept. 12 and Oct. 21. At least 104 people got sick and 34 were hospitalized, according to federal health officials. One person died in Colorado and four people developed a potentially life-threatening kidney disease complication.
The Food and Drug Administration has said that “there does not appear to be a continued food safety concern related to this outbreak at McDonald’s restaurants.”
But the outbreak hurt the company's sales.
Quarter Pounders were removed from menus in several states in the early days of the outbreak. McDonald’s identified an alternate supplier for the 900 restaurants that temporarily stopped serving the burgers with onions. Over the past week, McDonald's resumed selling Quarter Pounders with slivered onions nationwide.
FILE - A sign at a McDonald's restaurant is displayed on April 29, 2024, in Albany, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)
FILE- In this March 6, 2018, file photo, a McDonald's Quarter Pounder, left, and Double Quarter Pound burger is shown in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)
The United States Postal Service might have found a way to unite a nation bitterly divided after this month's election: It's releasing a Betty White stamp.
The beloved actor known for roles in “The Golden Girls," “The Mary Tyler Moore Show," “Boston Legal,” and others will be on a 2025 Forever stamp, USPS announced Friday.
White died in late December 2021, less than three weeks before her 100th birthday. The Postal Service hasn't announced a release date for the stamp.
“An icon of American television, Betty White (1922–2021) shared her wit and warmth with viewers for seven decades,” the Postal Service said in announcing the stamp, which depicts a smiling White based on a 2010 photograph by celebrity photographer Kwaku Alston. “The comedic actor, who gained younger generations of fans as she entered her 90s, was also revered as a compassionate advocate for animals.”
Boston-based artist Dale Stephanos created the digital illustration from Alston's photo.
“I’d love to send a letter back to my 18-year-old self with this stamp on it and tell him that everything is going to be OK,” Stephanos posted on Facebook.
Regardless of personal politics, self-proclaimed supporters of President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris reacted with delight on social media.
“Betty White was my hero, all of my life! I actually had a doll when I was a little girl I named Betty White,” one Trump supporter posted on X, formerly Twitter.
“Something to make this awful week a little better: We’re getting a Betty White stamp,” posted a pro-Harris X account.
White combined a wholesome image with a flare for bawdy jokes. Her television career began in the early 1950s and exploded as she aged.
“The only SNL host I ever saw get a standing ovation at the after party," Seth Meyers posted on Twitter after her death. "A party at which she ordered a vodka and a hotdog and stayed til the bitter end.”
FILE - Betty White speaks on stage at the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards on Monday, Sept. 17, 2018, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Phil McCarten/Invision for the Television Academy/AP Images, File)
