press release
DENVER -- November 20, 2015 - Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG)
continues to work closely with state and federal health officials, as the
investigation continues into an E. coli incident initially linked to 11 Chipotle
restaurants in Washington and Oregon.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reduced the number
of cases connected to Chipotle from 50 to 37 cases on November 18 (with
24 in Washington and 13 in Oregon).
This reduction of nearly 25% was based upon more sensitive testing which
revealed the cases were not related to Chipotle. The CDC has informed
Chipotle that it identified six additional cases in which initial testing matches
the E. coli strain involved in the Washington and Oregon incident.
Although one of the individuals has no known link to Chipotle, five
individuals did report eating at Chipotle, including two in Turlock, Calif., one
in Akron, Ohio, one in Amherst, NY, and one in Burnsville, Minn.
Investigators have suggested that in incidents like this, it is not unusual to
see additional cases after the initial incident as the investigation moves
forward.
The source of the problem appears to have been contained during a period
in late October. Forty-two of the 43 cases linked to Chipotle, reported
visiting one of the restaurants in question between October 13 and October
30. One person reported having eaten November 6.
In response to this incident, Chipotle has taken aggressive steps to make
sure its restaurants are as safe as possible. There have been no reported
new cases in Washington or Oregon since Chipotle put its remediation plan
into effect.
Specifically, the company conducted deep cleaning at the restaurants that
have been linked to this incident, replacing ingredients in those restaurants,
changing food preparation procedures, providing all necessary supply chain
data to investigators, and surveying employees to be sure none have had
any symptoms of illness (note: no Chipotle employees in any states have
been ill related to this incident). Similar actions are immediately being taken
in response to these newly reported cases.
Chipotle is also taking significant steps to be sure all of its food is as safe as
possible. Specifically, the company is expanding testing of key ingredients,
examining all of its food-safety procedures to find any opportunity for
improvement, and is working with two renowned food safety scientists to
assess all of its food safety programs, from the farms that provide its food to
its restaurants.
"We take this incident very seriously because the safety of our food and
wellbeing of our customers is always our highest priority," said Steve Ells,
chairman and co-CEO of Chipotle. "We are committed to taking any and all
necessary actions to make sure our food is as safe as possible, and we are
working diligently with the health agencies."
"We offer our sincerest apologies to those who have been affected," said
Ells. "We will leave no stone unturned to ensure the safety of our food -
from enhancing the safety and quality assurance program for all of our fresh
produce suppliers, to examining all of our food safety procedures from farm
to restaurant, and expanding testing programs for produce, meat and dairy
items before they are sent to our restaurants."
According to the CDC, there are about 48 million cases of food-related
illness in the U.S. annually, including 265,000 cases of E. coli.
Chipotle founder Steve Ells published an open letter to customers last week
in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the Oregonian, USA Today and the New
York Times, about the issue.
"The idea that eating at any of our restaurants could cause anyone to
become ill is unacceptable to all of us at Chipotle," Ells wrote. "On behalf of
all of us, I'd like to offer our sincerest apologies and assure all of our
customers that we are doing everything possible to make our food as safe as
it can be."