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UPDATE: July 27, 2017 at 11:41 a.m.
The cause of Chipotle's most recent outbreak — which sickened 135 customers and counting — was an ill employee, CNBC reports.
"We conducted a thorough investigation, and it revealed that our leadership there didn't strictly adhere to our company protocols," CEO Steve Ells said during an earnings conference call. To be more specific, store managers at the Sterling, VA location were lax with enforcing the company's sick policy, which includes paid sick leave for employees when they are ill (to ensure they stay home and keep illnesses off the line ).
This confirmation from the company comes weeks after self-identified Chipotle employees revealed, via Reddit threads, that they were forced to work while sick. What's more, another employee from Missouri told CNBC that while they didn't lose their job over taking sick time, absences are "frowned upon."
Chipotle spokesperson Chris Arnold elaborated on the brand's food safety measures, saying "We have added a HACCP (hazard analysis critical control points) program to all of our restaurants, and that program begins with a daily wellness check where employees in our restaurants are asked screening questions to be sure no one is working while sick. If any employees report symptoms of illness, [they] are excused from work until they are feeling better."
But apparently not all managers abide by this rule. "My boss has told me that I have no option but to come in tomorrow, and it's been heavily implied that my job will be in jeopardy if I don't come in," one alleged employee posted to Reddit.
UPDATE: July 25, 2017 at 10:36 a.m.
The count for those who've fallen ill after eating at Chipotle has risen to 135, the Loudoun County Health Department confirmed yesterday. All cases involved eating at one Chipotle location in Sterling, VA between July 13 and July 16. And while the department cannot officially confirm the cause to be norovirus, its director Dr. David Goodfriend expressed in a statement that this is more than likely the case.
"Two ill patrons have tested positive for the same strain of norovirus. Based on symptoms reported and these preliminary laboratory results, the cause of the outbreak is believed to be norovirus, though the specific source of the norovirus has not yet been identified," he said. "The Health Department is not aware of any customers becoming ill since the reopening of the facility last Wednesday."
In response, a Chipotle spokesperson told the International Business Times that "norovirus is common and easily transmitted by human contact, and this incident is not suggestive of any supply chain issues" and reiterated that the company took immediate action to correct it. "We appreciate and value our customers and we offer our sincerest apologies to those who may have been affected."
Even CEO Steve Ells chimed in with a statement to the business news site, saying "The safety and well-being of our customers is always our top priority."
UPDATE: July 20, 2017 at 2:04 p.m.
While some news sites (and the user-generated site iwaspoisoned.com) are purporting that over 130 people have become sick from eating Chipotle, the local health department has only confirmed 65 cases.
According to Dr. David Goodfriend, director of the Loudoun County Health Department, only one of those 65 people has tested positive for norovirus. "This provides additional information, but is not sufficient to determine the cause of the outbreak," he said. "The Health Department is awaiting further test results, which should be available early next week."
He also encouraged anyone who has eaten at the Sterling, VA location and become ill to contact the health department directly.
Stay tuned for more updates as this story develops.
ORIGINAL POST: July 19, 2017 at 11:27 a.m.
Two years ago, Chipotle was struck by a very unfortunate chain of food-borne illness outbreaks across the country. Over the course of six months, hundreds of cases of e.coli, salmonella, and norovirus cropped up everywhere from California to New England. No Mexican grill in the chain felt totally safe. But then, over time — and after the company reassured consumers it had instilled new food safety measures — it all blew over. Customers started lining up at lunch time again, stock prices rose back up.
Now we could be back where the mayhem began.
On Tuesday afternoon, a Chipotle restaurant in Virginia closed after multiple customers reported getting sick after eating there. According to Jim Marsden, the company's head of food safety, the symptoms that those ill diners experienced are consistent with norovirus, an extremely contagious stomach virus that causes sharp stomach pains, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
"We are working with health authorities to understand what the cause may be and to resolve the situation as quickly as possible," he said in the statement, adding that the Sterling, VA location closed voluntarily for a complete sanitization. "Norovirus does not come from our food supply, and it is safe to eat at Chipotle."
It's unclear just how many customers were affected or when exactly they had eaten at the restaurant; however, reports from the website iwaspoisoned.com suggest that at least eight people were affected, experiencing vomiting, fevers, diarrhea, and "violent stomach cramps," after eating there on Friday, July 14.
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