Chipotle Scare: 368 People Report Getting Sick at Ohio Restaurant

Chipotle Scare: 368 People Report Getting Sick at Ohio Restaurant
Ohio health officials say they’ve received 368 reports of people getting sick stemming from a Chipotle restaurant in Sawmill Parkway in Powell. Signage for a Chipotle Mexican Grill is seen in Los Angeles on April 25, 2016. (Reuters/Lucy Nicholson)
Jack Phillips
8/1/2018
Updated:
8/1/2018

Ohio health officials say they’ve received 368 reports of people getting sick stemming from a Chipotle restaurant in Sawmill Parkway in Powell.

“The Health District food inspection team inspected the restaurant this afternoon. Based on the food protection procedures followed by the facility, the inspection team found no reason for the facility to not reopen,” said the Delaware General Health District in a July 31 statement.

Officials said that an “investigation is ongoing pending lab test results,” adding that a “total of 33 stool sample kits were delivered today to persons that reported illness.”

It’s unclear how the people got sick.

Chipotle shut down the restaurant, it said on July 30. At least two customers wrote on food safety website iwaspoisoned.com that they suffered nausea and diarrhea after eating at the Powell, Ohio restaurant, but added that they had not visited a doctor.

“We acted quickly and closed this single restaurant out of an abundance of caution and we are working with the local health officials to reopen this restaurant as soon as possible,” a Chipotle spokeswoman said.
Health officials told ABC News that people who ate at the location complained of nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea after eating at the restaurant from July 26 to 30.

In 2016, Chipotle was forced to shutter about 2,000 locations and carry out a food-safety training program. It came after an outbreak of E. coli hit the chain in 2015, resulting in numerous people getting sick across the United States.

Chipotle’s stock fell 3.3 percent in after-hours trading on Monday after Business Insider first reported the news.

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Apple, iPhone, and iPad are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.
In June, Chipotle announced it was closing down as many as 65 underperforming restaurants across the world. Chipotle Mexican Grill’s new CEO, Brian Niccol, made the announcement in a conference call with investors, according to a previous Epoch Times report.

Niccol, who became the chain’s executive this winter, said that between 55 and 65 stores would be closed out of 2,400 around the world.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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