Chipotles reopen after outbreak

The first round of test results did not find E. coli bacteria in food samples taken from several Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurants, according to officials at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Chipotle might reopen this week in Kent and the rest of the state.

In total 27 people in Washington and 15 people in OR have been diagnosed with E. coli infection and health officials said “most” reported eating at a Chipotle restaurants before getting sick.

“When you go to a restaurant, let’s face it – you’re kind of at the mercy of what’s going on in the kitchen”, he said.

“Unfortunately, that’s pretty normal”, Kaisner said.

The WSDH said the source of the outbreak might never be identified, because the contaminated source of food may have been consumed before samples were collected for testing.

Health officials in Washington said tests are still in progress but that they may not discover a source for the outbreak.

Rather, it’s to the contrary, they said.

The restaurant chain hasn’t confirmed exactly which locations will reopen this week. “But I can tell you with all these fairly extreme measures to control risk, I think it’s at or below their risk before this event happened”. “If there are any opportunities for us to do better in any facet of our sourcing or food handling – from the farms to our restaurants – we will find them”. Two food safety consultants have been hired to assess and improve standards.

“It looks like it came from somewhere in the distribution line”, Modie said.

The big question for investorsWhen something like this happens, the key question for investors is whether the company is facing a temporary difficulty or if this is a sign of harder times ahead.

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

“They’ve demonstrated their commitment to food safety by voluntarily closing their facilities and then taking proactive steps early on”, he said. Among his 26 clients are two children who were hospitalized at Seattle Children’s hospital and a 70-year-old woman just released from an intensive-care unit in Portland, he said.

Lindquist said the Chipotle restaurants in Washington and OR will be allowed to reopen after they have met a few conditions.

The chain faced a salmonella outbreak linked to tomatoes that sickened dozens of people in Minnesota beginning in August. “And that’s what drives me insane”.