Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) withdrew its 2016 comp guidance and offered a bleak Q4 earnings view due to the E. coli outbreak, after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said new cases have been linked to the restaurant. Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. was the topic of 27 analyst reports since July 22, 2015 according to the firm StockzIntelligence Inc.
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This is a developing story. The investigation is still ongoing to determine if the ill people ate a meal item or ingredient in common that was served at the Chipotle Mexican Grill locations.
The E. Coli infection outbreak associated with Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc restaurants has reached to three more states in America taking the total number of states affected to nine.
Among people for whom information is available, illnesses started on dates ranging from October 19, 2015, to November 8, 2015.
Before rescinding its outlook Friday, the company had expected sales for 2016 to rise in the low-single digit percentages.
Work on this new program-completed with the help of Seattle-based IEH Laboratories and Consulting Group-commenced just after reports of foodborne illness began spreading back in October, prompting the immediate shutdown of all Chipotle locations in OR and Washington. Two of the illnesses started in October and five in November.
The company’s stock, fell 1% to $557 in pre-market trading Friday.
The company temporarily shuttered restaurants in OR and Washington – where most of the cases were concentrated – while it investigated the matter and health officials reviewed the situation.
It said that no ingredients that are likely to have been linked with the outbreak remain in its restaurants. It still doesn’t know what ingredient may be linked to the outbreak.
According to the CDC, this kind of E. coli “live in the guts of ruminant animals” and infections start when you swallow the bacteria – “in other words, when you get tiny (usually invisible) amounts of human or animal feces in your mouth”. “Most people infected with Shiga toxin-producing E.coli (STEC) develop diarrhea (often bloody) and abdominal cramps an average of 3 to 4 days after ingesting the germ”.
Earlier Friday, Chipotle had said it was tightening its food standards. But some strains can cause serious symptoms and even be life-threatening, and are spread by oral contact with fecal matter.
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“As a restaurant company, nothing is more important to us than serving our guests food that is delicious and safe to eat”, Chipotle said. Of these, 128,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 die, according to the CDC.
