The E. coli outbreak appeared to be contained to the Northwest before the CDC said last month that cases had been reported in four additional states.
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Illinois, Pennsylvania and Maryland have reported E. Coli cases, bringing the state list to nine involved the Chipotle outbreak.
“Seven more ill people have been reported from California (1), IL (1), Maryland (1), OH (2), Pennsylvania (1), and Washington (1)…two of these illnesses started in October, five started in November”, said the CDC on Friday in a statement.
Illnesses that occurred after October 31 might not be reported yet due to the time it takes between when a person becomes ill and when the illness is reported, which can take 2-3 weeks, the CDC says. The agency has not yet determined the ingredient responsible.
Chipotle said in a regulatory filing that its sales could decline further from “further developments, including potential additional announcements from federal and state health authorities”. Most infected people get diarrhea and abdominal cramps.
The outbreak was initially limited to Chipotle locations in Washington and OR, where locations were closed as a precaution during the initial investigation.
Comparable restaurant sales are anticipated to fall between 8% and 11% for the 2015 fourth quarter after comparable store sales dropped 16% in November.
Chipotle, which is known for touting the quality of its ingredients, also said Friday it was tightening its food standards.
The restaurant also said that it’s lowering its 2016 sales projections. It said it hired IEH Laboratories in Seattle to help improve its procedures and that it would implement testing of all produce before it is shipped to restaurants.
Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold said in an email that “none of the ingredients that were in our restaurants at the time of this incident are still in our restaurants”. “Through this high resolution testing program, we are making the haystacks smaller by working with smaller lots”, the company said. If you would like to discuss another topic, look for a relevant article.
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