Coli Outbreaks Raise Questions on Food Safety at Chipotle Restaurants

Now, Boston College announced on Monday that over 20 of its students, including eight of its men’s basketball players, have fallen sick after eating at a Chipotle restaurant.

It’s a really tough time, I’m sorry for the people who got sick. Since 2009, when the CDC began tracking outbreaks, it’s been much more common for fast-food restaurants to give their patrons salmonella (sit-down restaurants typically see a higher number of people infected with norovirus).

The latest news is that a Chipotle located in Seattle was shut down Thursday by health officials for repeated food safety violations. CNBC reported that Ells told the “Today” audience that the new food safety procedures “are so above industry norms that we are going to be the safest place to eat”. “They’re having a tough time and I feel bad about that”, he said.

Boston College said it is working with state health officials and that all students who reported symptoms have been tested for both E. Coli and norovirus.

In what could only have been an extremely hard and awkward appearance on the Today Show, company founder and co-CEO Steve Ellis spoke of planned health and safety enhancements that would ensure no future outbreaks could possibly occur.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said the outbreak has sickened 52 people in nine states. “We’re doing a lot to rectify this”.

The E. coli outbreak caused closure f 43 Chipotle restaurants in Washington and Oregon. He added that if there was a silver lining to this, it was that Chipotle has looked at every single ingredient used at its restaurants, and there are some 64 ingredients used by them.

Steven Senne/AP The company is cooperating with several state, local and national health agencies as it tries to assure customers at locations like this Brighton, Mass., location near the campus of Boston College.

On the other hand, Chipotle spokesperson has stated, “Yes, we believe it is a norovirus linked to only one restaurant, a sentiment shared by local health officials”. “I was surprised that there wasn’t a big line – there usually is a big line”, he said.

There are many strains of E.Coli, some of which even make up part of the bacterial communities in our intestines.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., based in Denver, had said that whatever the likely ingredient was that made people sick is out of its restaurants and that it is adopting stricter food-safety standards.