Chipotle To Reopen Northwest Restaurants This Week

But the department said from now on they will do a better job of notifying the public about these outbreaks.

“Unfortunately, it’s the rule rather than the exception”, said Dr. Jeffrey Duchin, health officer for Public Health – Seattle & King County. “Finding the source of the outbreak is often like finding a needle in the haystack”, Modie said.

But officials concluded there is no ongoing risk after tests of food at the Mexican food chain came back negative for the bacterium. However, Detwiler, the policy coordinator at STOP Foodborne Illness, said the responsibility should ultimately fall on the restaurant.

Before Chipotle could be allowed again open the doors of its Northwest stores, health officials required that all produce there be disposed of, each establishment sanitized and new food ordered. “I know they’ve tested lots of different food”.

Officials with the Denver-based chain said all domestic restaurants throughout the 1,900-unit system have been deep-cleaned and sanitized.

Retaining two preeminent food safety scientists to help the company assess and improve upon its already high standards for food safety. “And, we’ve seen a few companies just totally disappear when they did not take an immediate positive stance in their safety programs”.

“Clearly this is a Chipotle problem”, Marler said.

But is Chipotle’s response all that aggressive? Seattle attorney Bill Marler wonders.

“This put a woman in ICU, it put two kids here in Seattle at Children’s for over a week”, Marler said.

“The illness does not appear to be related to the outbreak in Washington and OR linked to Chipotle Mexican Grill locations in those states”, CDC noted, adding that the Minnesota investigation is continuing. “And that’s what drives me insane”. “By the time we were able to make an association with Chipotle, the outbreak was over”.

No Chipotle employees are among the confirmed cases.

The most recent reported date that a meal was served that may be linked with this incident is October 24. One third of the cases have been hospitalized, but there have been no deaths. More than 40 Chipotle restaurants remain closed in Washington state and the Portland area while authorities search for the cause.

In Washington, health officials warned that food testing may not show conclusive results. Meanwhile inside, a uniformed crew wiped down countertops and equipment.

“Our commitment is to find new ways to make our company better”, Chipotle representative Chris Arnold said.

And tests on almost 25 food samples from Chipotle locations in OR also found no E. coli. The outbreak not only affected hundreds of people in the northwestern United States but also claimed the lives of four children, including Detwiler’s 16-month-old son, Riley.