A location in Billerica, Massachusetts, shut down after one employee was found to have norovirus and others were suspected of also being sick.
Advertisement
“We do not know if the employees are ill with norovirus and no customers illnesses are connected to this restaurant”, said a Chipotle spokesman.
According to Time, Chris Arnold, the spokesman for the Mexican grill restaurant chain in Billerica said they are doing “full sanitation”. “Most of the new protocols are already in place, thanks to the hard work and dedication [of] our excellent restaurant teams”. The company said in a public filing that the California incident was isolated and that it will cooperate fully with the federal investigation.
The burrito chain is still trying to overcome a string of six foodborne illness outbreaks in the last six months of 2015, two of which involved norovirus. The board said it became aware of the illnesses on Tuesday and met with management, who made a decision to close voluntarily.
Clean-up crews have begun sanitizing the Chipotle in Billerica.
The Boston outbreak was one of many that the Denver-based tex-mex chain has dealt with in the past year involving norovirus, E. coli and salmonella.
Another outbreak started in October in OR and Washington and spread to six other states, sickening more than 45 people by mid-November.
And now another store is closed.
Three states – E. coli O26, began December 2015 declared over February 1, five sick people, source unknown, states involved are Kansas, Oklahoma and Nebraska.
Advertisement
Among the food safety changes that Chipotle has implemented are changes to food prep and food handling practices, including washing and cutting of some produce items and shredding cheese in central kitchens.
