Chipotle linked to a second E. coli outbreak

The company has had to deal with multiple outbreaks this year: the previous E. coli outbreak and two norovirus outbreaks that infected hundreds of people at two different locations.

“At this point, even rational and informed consumers could potentially be given reason to pause when choosing Chipotle over the plethora of fast-casual competition in the marketplace”, Ivankoe wrote.

The latest E. coli outbreak has made three people sick in Oklahoma, and one person each in Kansas and North Dakota, according to the CDC. The analyst, who views the CDC’s “strong allusion” that these new cases are “probably unrelated” to the prior outbreak as “very surprising and disappointing”, now believes the consensus forecasts for Chipotle’s earnings in fiscal 2016 and 2017 are “far too high” given that the news flow shows the impact of the company’s health issues continuing.

With a possible second E. coli O26 outbreak, a plummeting stock price and no answers, it’s a lousy winter solstice for Chipotle. The North Dakotan had traveled to Kansas and ate at the same Chipotle location as the Kansas resident who fell ill. However, that person didn’t report eating at a Chipotle in the week before November 14, when that person’s illness started, the CDC said.

The United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on Tuesday said that the E. coli outbreak which was linked with the rotisserie chicken salad sold by warehouse club operator Costco Wholesale Corp seems to be over now. The investigation remains ongoing, the C.D.C. said. It says those illnesses started between November 18 and November 26, and all five said they ate at a Chipotle the week before they got sick.

In the larger E. coli outbreak linked to Chipotle, some patients went to the doctor after reading about the other Chipotle cases, Dr. Williams said. However, the traceback investigation did not identify a common source of contamination.

If the latest E. coli cases are determined to be separate from the previously reported ones, it would mark the sixth Chipotle-related disease outbreak since July, including a salmonella incident involving tomatoes that sickened 64 people in Minnesota.

In a statement on Monday, Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold said, “We have indicated before that we expected that we may see additional cases stemming from this, and CDC is now reporting some additional cases”.

The company said it has completed a comprehensive review of its food safety programs focused on each of its ingredients, and the process of implementing related changes has already begun.

In the first outbreak, the illnesses were located mostly in the Pacific Northwest although nine total states were involved.