Chipotle Faces A Criminal Investigation Into Its Handling Of A Norovirus Outbreak

Signage hangs from a closed Chipotle restaurant in Portland, Ore., Monday, Nov. 2, 2015.

It said the investigation does not involve a more recent E. coli outbreak tied to its restaurants or a separate norovirus outbreak in Boston.

Now, a federal grand jury has aimed a subpoena in the restaurant’s direction, launching an investigation into the virus at Chipotle’s Simi Valley, Calif. restaurant, ABC News reports.

The investigation is being conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California with the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday.

The subpoena will require the company to surrender a broad range of documents that are related to the norovirus outbreak at a restaurant in Simi Valley, California, in which over 200 people became ill, including 17 workers at the store.

The announcement of the investigation follows in aftermath of the October and November, E. coli outbreaks that plagued Chipotle. The full fourth quarter sales were also down by more than 14% at these established locations, the company said. In the wake of several disease outbreaks, the popular Mexican restaurant chain has now been served a federal subpoena and is under criminal investigation.

In December, about 140 Chipotle customers in Boston were infected with norovirus, and five more customers in three states were hit with norovirus, which can be spread by contaminated food or water and causes stomach pain, nausea, diarrhea and vomiting in victims. Those restaurants have since reopened.

The probe doesn’t include the other foodborne-related illnesses Chipotle faced in 2015.

Doug Beach, a manager of the food program at Ventura County’s Environmental Health Division, said the U.S. Attorney’s office requested records from the his office regarding the Chipotle case about a month ago.

A federal grand jury will determine if official charges will be filed against Chipotle.

In an attempt to rehabilitate its image, the company has apologized to its customers in full-page ads in dozens of newspapers around the country, and has vowed to step up food safety standards at its restaurants.

A spokesman for the company told the Los Angeles Times it would cooperate fully.

“I’m scratching my head about it”, he said. The company plans to improve cooking methods and increase the testing of meat and produce.