BC Students Sick After Dining Out

The Boston Public Health Commission, along with the City of Boston Inspectional Services Department (ISD) have launched an investigation after receiving reports of multiple gastrointestinal illnesses from individuals who ate a Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurant in Cleveland Circle, which is near the Boston College campus.

Initially those falling sick in Boston were assumed to be connected to the restaurant’s recent spate of E. coli cases, a crisis that has sickened at least 52 people eating a Chipotles in nine states.

A manager at the Chipotle location in New Haven declined to comment Tuesday, requesting questions be forwarded to corporate, which also didn’t respond; Chris Arnold, a spokesman for Chipotle, did not return a call seeking comment.

Chipotle executives noted the exposure period for the E. coli cases appears to be over.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which tracks both outbreaks like those at Chipotle and isolated occurrences, estimates that 48 million people contract food-borne diseases each year.

Boston College basketball players and students reportedly contracted E. coli by eating at Chipotle.

Coming as it did on the heels of the multi-state E. coli O26 outbreak, which has been associated with Chipotle restaurants, BC students and athletics feared they, too, were victims of the more serious foodborne disease. Health officials have tested all 80 people for Norovirus and E. coli and will have results within 48 hours.

The violations include meats that were not being kept at a high enough temperature and an employee being sick while working a shift Thursday.

Infected workers cause about 70 percent of reported norovirus outbreaks from contaminated food.

Scott Zoback, a spokesman for the public health agency said that the exact cause responsible for the condition of the Boston students is yet to be identified. “At first I was happy that I got my food so quickly, but then it struck me as I left that people are taking this seriously”.

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).

The food chain said that no cases of E.coli in Boston have been linked to the company.

While inspectors in Boston were focused on the Chipotle where public health inspectors say dozens of customers were stricken, officials in Waltham, Cambridge, Framingham and Bedford told the Herald they’ve either already inspected their locations or moved up their scheduled sweeps.

“Everyone has to pay attention to cross contamination in their homes and frankly, consumers need to hold restaurants accountable for poisoning and sickening them”.