LOS ANGELES (AP) — McDonald’s announced Sunday that Quarter Pounders will be back on the menu at hundreds of restaurants after testing excluded beef patties as a source of outbreak of E. coli poisoning linked to popular burgers that killed one person and sickened at least 75 in 13 states.

The US Food and Drug Administration continues to believe that sliced ​​onions from a single supplier are the likely source of contamination, McDonald’s said in a statement. It said it will resume selling the Quarter Pounder at the affected restaurants — without chopped onions — next week.

As of Friday, the outbreak had spread to at least 75 sick people in 13 states, federal health officials said. A total of 22 people were hospitalized, and two developed a dangerous complication of the kidney disease, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. One person died in Colorado.

Early information reviewed by the FDA showed that uncooked chopped onions used on the burgers “is a likely source of contamination,” the agency said. McDonald’s confirmed that Taylor Farms, a California produce company, was the supplier of fresh onions used in the restaurants involved in the outbreak and that they came from a facility in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

McDonald’s pulled the Quarter Pounder burger from menus in several states — mostly in the Midwest and Mountain states — when the outbreak was announced Tuesday. McDonald’s said Friday that chopped onions from the Colorado Springs facility were distributed to about 900 of its restaurants, including some in transportation hubs such as airports.

The company said it removed chopped onions from that facility from its supply chain on Tuesday. McDonald’s said it has decided to stop sourcing onions from its Taylor Farms facility in Colorado Springs “indefinitely.”

The 900 McDonald’s restaurants that normally received chopped onions from the Taylor Farms facility in Colorado Springs will resume sales of Quarter Pounders without chopped onions, McDonald’s said.

Testing by the Colorado Department of Agriculture ruled out beef patties as the source of the outbreak, McDonald’s said.

The Department of Agriculture has received multiple batches of fresh and frozen beef patties collected from various McDonald’s locations in Colorado associated with the E. coli investigation. All samples tested negative for E. coli, the department said.

Taylor Farms said Friday it has preemptively recalled yellow onions sent to customers from its Colorado facility and continues to work with the CDC and FDA as they investigate.

While it remains unclear whether the recalled onions were the source of the outbreak, several other fast-food restaurants — including Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC and Burger King — pulled onions from some menus in certain areas this week.

Colorado had the most reported illnesses on Friday, with 26 cases. At least 13 people have become ill in Montana, 11 in Nebraska, five each in New Mexico and Utah, four each in Missouri and Wyoming, two in Michigan and one each in Iowa, Kansas, Oregon, Wisconsin and Washington, the CDC reported .

McDonald’s said Friday that it had not pulled the Quarter Pounder from other restaurants and noted that some cases in states outside the original region were travel-related.

The CDC said some people who got sick reported traveling to other states before symptoms started. At least three people said they ate at McDonald’s during their trip. The illnesses were reported between September 27 and October 11.

The outbreak involves infections with E. coli 0157:H7, a type of bacteria which produces a dangerous toxin. It causes about 74,000 infections in the U.S. annually, leading to more than 2,000 hospitalizations and 61 deaths each year, according to the CDC.

Symptoms of E. coli poisoning can appear quickly, within a day or two of eating contaminated food. These usually include fever, vomiting, diarrhea or bloody diarrhea and signs of dehydration – little or no peeing, increased thirst and dizziness. The infection is especially dangerous for children under 5 years old, the elderly, pregnant people or those with a weakened immune system.

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Associated Press writer JoNel Aleccia contributed reporting from Temecula, California.

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