Quarter Pounder

back on menu

McDonald’s says testing has ruled out beef patties as the source of the outbreak of E. coli poisoning tied to its Quarter Pounders. The company said Sunday it will resume selling Quarter Pounders at hundreds of affected restaurants in the coming week. McDonald’s said in a statement that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration continues to believe that slivered onions from a single supplier are the likely source of contamination. Federal health officials said that as of Friday, the outbreak had expanded to at least 75 people sick in 13 states. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says one person has died in Colorado.

iPhones enter

the AI era

Apple has released a free software update that will inject its first dose of artificial intelligence into its iPhone 16 line-up as the trendsetting company tries to catch up with technology’s latest craze. The upgrade to the iOS 18 operating system came out Monday, more than a month after four iPhone 16 models equipped with the special computer chip needed to power the AI features went on sale. Two of last year’s premium iPhone 15 models also can process the AI features after the software update is installed. Among other things, the update will turn Apple’s virtual assistant Siri into a more conversational and versatile companion.

Weak demand sends

oil prices lower

Global oil prices are falling sharply after a retaliatory strike by Israel over the weekend targeted Iranian military sites rather than its energy infrastructure as had been feared. Prices for crude spiked globally on Oct. 2 after Iran fired nearly 200 missiles into Israel, part of a series of rapidly escalating attacks between Israel and Iran and its Arab allies that threatened to push the Middle East closer to a regional war. With many seeing that threat diminishing, at least in the near term, the price of benchmark U.S. crude and Brent crude, the international benchmark, tumbled 6% Monday.

Brazil issues fines

over cattle sales

Brazil’s environmental agency levied $64 million in fines against 23 meatpacking and their suppliers companies for buying and selling cattle raised illegally on deforested land in the Amazon. The operation tracked 18,000 head of cattle raised in 100 square miles of pasture that was under embargo due to illegal deforestation. The companies targeted included JBS, the largest meatpacking company in the world. The JBS fine amounted to $108,000 for purchasing 1,231 head of cattle, the fifth largest penalty among the fined companies. Cattle raising is Brazil’s Amazon’s main deforestation driver, with 90% of the total cleared area converted to pasture. That represents an area of 227,800 square miles, slightly larger than France.

— Bulletin wire reports