Shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill plunged 9% late Friday after the CDC warned that an E. coli outbreak that appears to be linked to food at the popular burrito chain has now been reported in six states.
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The new incidents bring the total number of people infected with this strain of E. coli since mid-October to 45 people from six states: California (2), Minnesota (2), NY (1), and OH (1), in addition to the previous cases in OR (13), and Washington (26). Seattle lawyer Bill Marler, who is representing to about three dozen individuals affected by the flare-up in OR and Washington state, said the increment in reported cases raises the probability that the culprit will be recognized.
Chipotle Mexican Grill is assisting public health officials with understanding the distribution of food items served at locations where ill people ate and this work is ongoing.
Erie County Health Commissioner Gale Burstein has declined to identify which Erie County Chipotle location is linked to the illness, saying that all locations of the chain restaurant are at equal risk of exposure to this E. Coli outbreak.
Health officials have not yet determined which food ingredient is causing the illnesses. There have been no reported new cases in Washington or OR since Chipotle put its remediation plan into effect.
Investigators have not identified the source of the E. coli contamination, but previously said produce was suspected.
Chris Arnold, a spokesperson for Chipotle, said the company has no plan to close restaurants at this time.
Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria normally lives in the intestines of people and animals, but a few strains can cause illness and, in a few cases, death.
Although E. coli infection can have only minimal effect on healthy adults, it can be harmful on older people, children, and those with low immune system. Specifically, the company is expanding testing of key ingredients, examining all of its food-safety procedures to find any opportunity for improvement, and is working with two renowned food safety scientists to assess all of its food safety programs, from the farms that provide its food to its restaurants.
“We’re looking into it”, Amato said.
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Chipotle is also taking significant steps to be sure all of its food is as safe as possible. In order to try and combat this problem, Chipotle have also hired food safety consultants and they’ve chose to change their food preparation protocol too.
