E. coli outbreak linked to Turlock Chipotle restaurant

An outbreak of E. coli linked to Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurants in three states has spread to three more states, said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday.

Chipotle said affected individuals reported eating at restaurants in Turlock, California; Akron, Ohio; Amherst, New York and Burnsville, Minnesota.

In addition, three more states have reported people infected with the outbreak strain-California, New York and Ohio.

On October, 31, first E. coli outbreak at Chipotle restaurant was reported in Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon, which caused the closure of 43 restaurants in those markets.

The company that champions its natural ingredients suffered embarrasment after an E. coli outbreak forced it to close 43 restaurants in Washington and OR in early November.

The CDC’s findings suggest that the outbreak is linked to one particular menu item served at Chipotles in multiple states, but have not yet determined the specific food responsible for the illness.

On Nov. 10, the company announced that it was reopening the Northwest restaurants after a deep cleaning and replacement of all ingredients. But the CDC has also tracked patients in California (2), Minnesota (2), NY (1) and OH (1), indicating a wider distribution of the tainted food item.

Washington had the most reported cases linked to the fast-food chain, at 26.

Chipotle’s shares are down nearly 19 percent since the beginning of the year, the BBC reported.

After an investigation into the sickness that the person contracted in October, officials learned it originated from a Chipotle Mexican Grill establishment in upstate NY. No deaths have occurred, but 16 people were hospitalized due to the infection.

“We take this incident very seriously because the safety of our food and well-being of our customers is always our highest priority”, Chief Executive Steve Ells said in a news release”. “On behalf of all of us, I’d like to offer our sincerest apologies and assure all of our customers that we are doing everything possible to make our food as safe as it can be”.