The illnesses led to the temporary closure of the restaurant in the city’s Cleveland Circle neighborhood.
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Eight players have been infected with E. coli, a Boston College coach confirmed to the university’s newspaper, BC Interruptions, late on Monday (Dec. 7).
Chipotle temporarily closed its Cleveland Circle restaurant Monday after Boston College said several students, including members of the men’s basketball team, developed gastrointestinal symptoms after eating at the Mexican chain.
In response to the alleged Chipotle-linked outbreaks, affecting more than 50 people in nine states (not including the recent news in Boston), Chipotle “is aggressively taking actions to implement industry leading food safety and food handling practices in all of its restaurants and throughout its supply chain”, according to a statement on its website most recently updated on December 5.
As of Tuesday, the Boston Public Health Department (BPHD) confirmed that 80 students from Boston College had fallen ill with norovirus after dining at a Chipotle restaurant near campus.
The students are being tested for E. coli and norovirus, which both can cause severe vomiting and diarrhea.
According to a report from the Boston Inspectional Services department, which is responsible for inspecting the city’s restaurants, an employee at the Chipotle restaurant in Cleveland Circle was sick while working a shift Thursday. Those test results are not expected for at least two days, a university spokesman said.
Chipotle said it was working with local officials to sanitize the Boston franchise and to test all employees for the norovirus. Many cases of less unsafe illnesses like the norovirus, which Chipotle claims is the cause of the cases in Boston.
The virus is very contagious and can be spread through food, water, touching contaminated surfaces or having contact with an infected person, health officials said.
The states with reported cases are California, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington. That would mark the first decline since the company went public in 2006. “There are no confirmed cases of E. coli connected to Chipotle in MA”.
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This is the company’s third food safety incident since August. The stock is down almost 25 percent in the quarter to date.
