Over the past few days, one of the biggest and fastest-growing chains in the United States has been going through a major food safety scare, as dozens of their stores have had to shut down after reports of an E. coli Chipotle outbreak - and one woman is suing the chain over this.
According to Yahoo! News, there are now officially 35 cases of E. coli confirmed in this Chipotle outbreak between Washington state and Oregon after the chain confirmed numbers last Tuesday, also vowing to take steps in the matter after his major food safety threat.
After the start of the Chipotle outbreak a few days back, Chipotle Mexican Grill has closed all its restaurants in the Seattle and Portland area, a total of 43, although only eight have been tied to the recent outbreak of E. coli 026.
This is the third Chipotle food safety incident in 2015.
The Associated Press (via Oregon Live) reports that Kelso, Washington resident Charmaine Mode filed a lawsuit against the chain over the Chipotle outbreak last Tuesday, sharing that she had fallen ill with E. coli on October 25 after eating at one of the chain's restaurants, presenting symptoms such as nausea and severe diarrhea.
According to The Wall Street Journal, authorities currently investigating the Chipotle outbreak believe fresh produce is the culprit for the recent scare (which is fortunately among the most benevolent strains of the disease), but it's still unclear what was the exact contaminated ingredient and while hopefully it won't be the case, there's a chance authorities won't find out the source
"Reopening timing will be determined largely by the pace and progress of the investigation. Right now, that is our top priority and we are continuing to offer our full cooperation as the investigation continues," said Chris Arnold, a rep for the chain, in an email to the press about this Chipotle outbreak.
