US fast-food chains drop raw onions from offerings amid E. coli outbreak

A sweeping onion recall linked to an E. coli outbreak involving McDonald's Quarter Pounders has prompted several other major fast-food chains to remove raw onions from their menu offerings.

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Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC and Burger King have stopped adding fresh onions to their signature items at certain locations.

A spokesperson for Yum Brands, which owns several fast-food chains, said its restaurants were yanking onions from their menus "out of an abundance of caution." The company would not elaborate or say how many sites in how many states would not offer onions.

Federal regulators have not confirmed the source of the outbreak, which has so far killed one person and made 49 sick.

Initial investigations have suggested that the onion slices served mainly atop McDonald's Quarter Pounders were a "likely source of contamination."