Customers who have a penchant for frothy, caffeinated drinks may have to find another place to eat for the time being.
The $3,000 machines that are used at many McDonald’s restaurants in the United States are manufactured by Melitta, which suggested a temporary halt to their use in order to “proactively ensure safety,” the business said in an emailed statement on Wednesday.
“We are investigating the two impacted machines. Our intent is to determine the root cause and provide a remediation plan that allows us to move forward,” Melitta stated.
Melitta notified restaurant owners on Monday that it was looking into a component flaw that might ruin the piece by releasing a burst of steam. According to the Wall Street Journal, which cited a letter to restaurant owners, it asked McDonald’s to cease using the machines for a maximum of three weeks while it investigates the problem and inspects the equipment.
The Chicago-based burger restaurant stated that hot and cold lattes might not be available at impacted stores due to the problem that affects several espresso-based beverages.
“We have moved quickly to decommission these machines in McDonald’s restaurants and are staying in contact with our supplier to resolve the issue,” McDonald’s stated. “We are still determining the scope of the impact.”
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McDonald’s, which has more than 14,000 locations in the US, stated that it still sells brewed coffee, both hot and cold. Late this year, the company, which sells over 8 million cups of coffee every day, opened a spinoff restaurant called CosMc’s that specializes in coffee and other specialty drinks.
The chain is still recovering from a deadly E. coli incident that was probably caused by sliced onions on McDonald’s Quarter Pounders, and the problem with its espresso machines is the most recent setback. Tens of millions of dollars are reportedly being spent by the chain to assist U.S. franchises in their recovery from the incident that caused 104 illnesses across 14 states.
