Chipotle Shuttered a Restaurant in Seattle, Shares Down By 30% Since Outbreaks

Brighter news for those who became ill in Boston, The Food Chain reports that CDC officials said that less than 1% of norovirus patients were hospitalized for the illness between 2009 to 2014.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Chipotle said sales have been “extremely volatile” since it temporarily closed restaurants in OR and Washington in early November as a result of the outbreak. Boston College has received reports of students’ roommates contracting the illness; to prevent the continued transmission of the virus, we urge residents to take proper precautions to prevent the spread of illness, which include: washing your hands regularly, avoiding close contact or sharing food and drink with others who might be ill, and staying home if you are ill.

Chipotle’s reputation has been battered in recent weeks by an outbreak of E. coli that afflicted at least 52 people in nine states. In many cases, the illness turns out to be fatal as well.

“I’ve been doing this since the Jack in the Box outbreak of 1993 and the number of possible cases in such a short period of time is something I’ve never really seen before”, said William Marler of the Seattle-based Marler Clark LLP.

IEH, which is led by Dr. Mansour Samadpour, is working directly with Chipotle’s Supply Chain and Operations departments to implement a set of industry-leading practices, including changing some existing protocols. Chipotle closed 43 locations after E. Coli outbreak linked to six restaurants in the Pacific Northwest.

The company was founded in 1993 and is based in Denver, Colorado.

Enhancing internal training to ensure that all employees thoroughly understand the company’s high standards for food safety and food handling. All the tests for bacteria pathogens of E. coli had come back negative. No ingredients that are likely to have been connected to this incident remain in Chipotle’s restaurants or in its supply system.

“When I opened the first Chipotle 22 years ago, I offered a focused menu of just a few things made with fresh ingredients and prepared using classic cooking techniques”, said Steve Ells, chairman and co-CEO of Chipotle.

Bernstein also noted that Chipotle is known for its “Food with Integrity” slogan, which makes the E. coli cases “all the more damaging”.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are about 48 million cases of food-related illness in the USA annually, including 265,000 cases of E. coli.