CNBC reported that Ells told the “Today” audience that the new food safety procedures “are so above industry norms that we are going to be the safest place to eat“. After its widespread E. coli scare and the localized, intense norovirus incident, Chipotle simply can’t afford to have another food safety problem added to the list.
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Norovirus can be transmitted by eating contaminated food, or by touching infected surfaces, then putting your fingers in your mouth.
William Marler, a prominent Seattle lawyer who specializes in food safety, is representing 74 victims in Chipotle-related cases. But the news of many more groups of people falling sick due to their meals is pouring in at regular intervals. The company has noted the exposure period for the outbreak appears to have passed.
Three days after health officials shut down a Boston-area Chipotle Mexican Grill, the sick list has risen to 140 people.
Popular casual burrito dining establishment Chipotle has been linked to an outbreak of E.Coli that has made over fifty people in nine different states ill with norovirus. According to the commission, nearly 129 students from Boston College contracted norovirus from the Chipotle eatery. the commission also said that seven other people were also reported sick but the were not associated with the college.
“Those are important violations”, said Benjamin Chapman, an associate professor and food-safety specialist at North Carolina State University.
Earlier this week, escalating numbers of Boston College students began reporting gastrointestinal symptoms.
Investigators are also using whole genome sequencing, an advanced laboratory technique, to get more information about the DNA fingerprint of the STEC O26 bacteria causing illness. Though, the exact reason for the outbreak is still unknown, Steve assured that they are doing hard to identify the cause and to make sure that it won’t happen again.
Till date, approximately about 52 independent cases of E. Coli has been reported to the health affairs department in the past.
However, officials did make it clear that no specific illnesses had yet been linked with these particular outlets – including the restaurant closed down at 212 Westlake Ave, South Lake Union.
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Even as investigations are continuing, Chipotle has closed its restaurant near Boston College. Seattle suffered the first E. coli cases in July, followed by nearly 100 cases of norovirus – a highly-contagious virus that inflames a person’s stomach or intestines – in California’s Simi Valley the following month. Chipotle temporarily closed a restaurant where the students said they ate and says it believes the illnesses are an isolated case of norovirus separate from the E. coli outbreak.
