FDA Probing Latest E.Coli Outbreak Linked To Chipotle

The Tulsa County Health Department is also investigating after learning of the E. coli cases in the state.

Initially affecting restaurants in just Washington and OR, news of similar illnesses were eventually reported in Illinois, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.

“It’s concerning”, she said. A spokesman for Chipotle said that numerous earlier incidents even the Simi Valley was considered by the company as “a small number of isolated and unrelated incidents – in terms of geography and incident”. Of the five people who fell ill, one was from Kansas, one was from North Dakota and three were from Oklahoma.

In a statement Chipotle said: “Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have indicated that additional cases from similar time periods may still be reported as they make their way through various state health departments to the federal health officials”. “The investigation is still ongoing to identify common meal items or ingredients causing illness”. We are now in the process of implementing those programs, including high resolution testing of ingredients, end of shelf-life testing of ingredients, continuous improvement in the supply system based on testing data, and enhanced food safety training for all of our restaurant teams.

22, the Food and Drug Administration had not updated its information on the outbreak.

It has been a rough few months for Chipotle.

In an effort to restore public trust, Chipotle CEO Steve Ells has stressed in multiple TV appearances over the past couple of weeks that no E. coli cases were contracted by customers eating at stores after November 7. The illnesses began on dates ranging from November 18 to November 26.

A total of 53 cases have now been reported, the majority of them related to the October 2015 outbreak in the Pacific Northwest that resulted in dozens of locations being temporarily closed. According to an investigation that was disclosed on Monday by the CDC, it is expected that the recent outbreak is linked to eating Chipotle as well.

William Blair analyst Sharon Zackfia told CNBC she has a “buy” rating on the stock, and is not rethinking it because of the recent outbreak issues.

Both outbreaks involve rare, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli 026, or STEC 026, but the CDC is considering the outbreaks as separate events until more is known about whether the two strains are related.