Proactive Investors - McDonald’s Corp has put $100 million towards winning back customers after an E.coli outbreak linked to onions within its burgers affected over a hundred people.
Some $65 million will go directly to the hardest-hit franchises following the outbreak between September 12 and October 21.
The remaining $35 million will be spent on marketing, a memo cited by Restaurant Dive said.
At least 104 became ill and 34 were hospitalised as a result of the outbreak, which the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said likely stemmed from onions on McDonald’s Quarter Pounder burgers.
America’s Food and Drug Administration has since said there did not appear to be a continued safety issue linked to the outbreak.
Quarter Pounders dropped off menus across a string of McDonald’s restaurants during the outbreak, while an alternate supplier had to be sourced for some 900 sites which had stopped serving the burgers with onions.
“The relevance, trust, and love for the Golden Arches has been hard-earned over nearly 70 years by our unwavering commitment to do the right thing,” the memo read.
“The past three weeks have only further exemplified that.”