CDC Declares End to E. Coli Outbreak as Chipotle Faces Widening Criminal Investigation

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has declared that two E.
coli outbreaks linked to Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. “appear to be over,”
but the agency has not identified a food source for the outbreaks.

“The epidemiologic evidence collected during this investigation suggested
that a common meal item or ingredient served at Chipotle Mexican
Grill restaurants was a likely source of both outbreaks,” the agency said.
“When a restaurant serves foods with several ingredients that are mixed
or cooked together and then used in multiple menu items, it can be more
difficult for epidemiologic studies to identity [sic] the specific ingredient
that is contaminated.”

Meanwhile, Chipotle faces a joint investigation by the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration and U.S. Department of Justice into a 2015 norovirus
outbreak in one of its California restaurants. The company has
reportedly been served an additional subpoena requiring it to produce
documents on company-wide food safety measures dating from 2013.
Additional details about the probe appear in Issue 589 of this Update.
See Reuters, February 2, 2016.

Issue 593