If tests confirm that the Boston illnesses are the result of norovirus, it would support Chipotle’s previous statement that whatever ingredient that was likely to blame for the E. coli is out of its restaurants by now.
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An episode in which 80 Boston College students became ill after eating at an on-campus Chipotle can likely be blamed on norovirus and is thus not connected to the company’s E.coli outbreak, a Chipotle spokesman said in an email.
The illnesses led to the temporary closure of the restaurant in the city’s Cleveland Circle neighborhood.
“The pattern here looks like norovirus isolated to one restaurant”, Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold told Reuters.
Chipotle, which has about 1,900 locations across the USA, also faced E. coli, norovirus and salmonella outbreaks in Washington, California and Minnesota over the summer.
“The safety and well being of our customers is always our highest priority, so our restaurant at Cleveland Circle in Boston is temporarily closed while we work with local health officials to investigate a number of illnesses among Boston College students”, Arnold said in a statement.
The food chain said that no cases of E.coli in Boston have been linked to the company. The source of that contamination has still not been disclosed.
Late Monday, Chipotle closed a restaurant in Boston after Boston College said 30 of its students complained of gastrointestinal symptoms after eating at the chain. Boston public health officials said that the cause was norovirus. At least 11 locations in Washington and OR were linked to E. coli cases in those states between October 13 and November 7, though no new illnesses have occurred since then, according to the release.
The virus can spread from an infected person, contaminated food or water, or by touching contaminated surfaces, the agency says. For the norovirus, some symptoms include stomach pain, nausea, diarrhea and vomiting.
As per the statistics available with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, so far, 52 people in across nine states have been affected by the infection.
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That distinction won’t make much of a difference for 80 college kids now dealing with some painful health issues, though – and the multiple health issues around the country at various Chipotle restaurants are now causing the burrito joint’s stock value to free fall, too!
