More illnesses linked to Chipotle; chain enhances food safety practices

The CDC identified seven more people infected with an Escherichia coli O26 outbreak strain that was linked to food served at Chipotle restaurants.

In addition, Boston’s Public Health Commission received multiple reports of gastrointestinal illness from 91 people who consumed food at the city’s Chipotle restaurant, according to a recent statement. Early laboratory testing detected the presence of norovirus, and the cases have not been linked to the E. coli outbreak; however, the restaurant is temporarily closed while officials investigate the source of infection.

As of Dec. 4, the CDC has confirmed that 52 people from nine states were infected with the outbreak strain, including one person each from Illinois, Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania; two people from Minnesota; three people each from California and Ohio; 13 people from Oregon; and 27 people from Washington. Twenty people have been hospitalized; no deaths or cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) were reported.

Based on available data, the CDC said illnesses started between Oct. 19 and Nov. 13, but also noted that infections occurring after Nov. 11 may have not been documented yet. Most patients (90%) reportedly consumed food from Chipotle before becoming ill, leading investigators to suggest that a meal item or ingredient served at the restaurants is a likely source of the outbreak. No specific food, however, was identified.

Whole-genome sequencing was performed on isolates collected from 21 patients in Washington, California, Minnesota and New York, all of which were highly related genetically to one another, according to the CDC. The recent findings confirm that illnesses occurring outside the Pacific Northwest are associated with initial illnesses reported in Oregon and Washington in October.

State and local health officials are continuing to monitor data to identify additional cases and interview infected patients. Of the three most recent cases, only one person said they consumed food served at Chipotle the week before becoming ill.

In light of recent events, Chipotle officials have taken action to enhance the company’s food safety program and hired Seattle-based IEH Laboratories to help improve the company’s safety practices, according to a Chipotle press release.

“While Chipotle’s food safety practices were already well within industry norms, I was asked to design a more robust food safety program to ensure the highest level of safety and the best quality of all meals served at Chipotle,” Mansour Samadpour, PhD, CEO of IEH Laboratories, said in the release. “I am happy to report that our proposed program was adopted in its entirety, without any modification.”

The safety program will involve DNA testing of all fresh produce and end-of-shelf-life testing to ensure that ingredients are safe to consume. The company also is improving internal training to ensure that all employees are able to maintain food safety standards.

A farm-to-fork assessment of each ingredient was conducted during a review of Chipotle’s safety practices. Thousands of food samples were tested from restaurants linked to the outbreak and yielded negative results, according to the release.