Tue November 10, 2015
Officials have tested 25 food products from Chipotle Mexican Grill and they found 0 amount , but they are assuming that there’s some percentage of E coil and the source of it was unknown. E coil is a bacterium commonly found in the intestines of humans and other animals, where it usually causes no harm. Some strains can cause severe food poisoning, especially in old people and children. Health officials said the findings are not unusual, because sometimes the contaminated foods are consumed or thrown out before samples are taken. There were 27 people in Dc who were ill from the E coil and were hospitalized. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 14 of these people who were hospitalized were reported eating at Chipotle locations before becoming ill.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/09/health/chipotle-e-coli-outbreak-update/index.html?sr=fbCNN111015chipotle-e-coli-outbreak-update1123AMVODtopLink&linkId=18637456
Symptoms, which include diarrhea and abdominal pain, usually begin two to eight days after a person has been exposed to the bacteria and resolve within a week. Some cases are severe and patients can develop haemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS, which is a type of kidney failure. There have been no cases of HUS or deaths from this outbreak.
The most recent illness was reported on October 24.
Chipotle restaurants across Washington and have remained closed as a precaution since the outbreak was identified. Health officials said that they should dispose all the food, sensitize all facilities, and bringing new foods to each chipotle location before reopening. all fresh produce will be rinsed and sanitized. In addition, county food safety inspectors will confirm these steps have been taken at each location around the state of DC.
“The safety of our customers and integrity of our food supply has always been our highest priority,” Steve Ells, chairman and co-CEO of Chipotle, said in a statement. “If there are any opportunities for us to do better in any facet of our sourcing or food handling — from the farms to our restaurants — we will find them. We are sorry to those affected by this situation, and it is our greatest priority to ensure that we go above and beyond to make certain that we find any opportunity to do better in any area of food safety.”
Chipotle says that they will be opening their restaurants in the next couple days.
If you suspect your local food establishment of unhealthy practices you can find your local health department here to report the problem: