Another Chipotle Outbreak Is Reportedly Happening At An L.A. Restaurant
Earlier this year, Chipotle faced backlash following reports of a brand new foodborne illness outbreak at a location in Sterling, Virginia. While the smoke appears to have cleared around that controversy, another Chipotle outbreak is reportedly occurring right now in Los Angeles.
According to Business Insider, several reports of vomiting, nausea, and diarrhea were reported on iwaspoisoned.com after customers ate at the Chipotle at 4550 W. Pico Blvd. Five reports were posted on the website, with diners claiming to feel sick within 48 hours of eating at the restaurant.
The Los Angeles Health Department’s Acute Communicable Disease Control unit told Business Insider that they are aware of the illness reports and are actively investigating the restaurant. Chipotle spokesperson Chris Arnold also said that the location has now implemented “heightened sanitization measures,” but challenged the validity of some of the claims.
“We are aware of three reports (two of which appear to be the same) on a user-generated reporting site, but there is no clinical validation associated with those reports, and we have not been contacted by customers directly to substantiate these claims.”
Chipotle’s stock price has already been impacted as a result of these new reports. As of press time, shares had fallen to $301.56 each, a staggering decline of 3.71%. Chipotle is in danger of dropping below $300 for the first time since August 23rd of this year. Prior to 2017, the last time Chipotle’s stock was this low was on January 11, 2013, according to Google Finance.
UPDATE: Chipotle has told ABC News that sick employees were reported at the restaurant in question and are now being held out of work. It’s unclear if they were working when the outbreak was reported, however.
