Update (August 8th, 2018 – 8:51 a.m. PST): The Dayton Daily News reports that, as of right now, over 700 people are dealing with food poisoning after eating at this Chipotle.
It seems like no more than a few months can go by without Chipotle ending up in the news, and the reason for that usually isn’t ideal. That’s exactly the case today: A Chipotle store closed after customers complained over having some upsetting symptoms, and it doesn’t look good for the chain.
The Chipotle, which was located in Powell, Ohio, voluntarily decided to shut its doors after customers who ate there claimed to experience nausea and diarrhea after eating there. As of right now, since Sunday, more than 170 people have claimed they got sick after eating at that specific restaurant, according to Business Insider. More than 100 of those reports were made to the website iwaspoisoned.com, a website that tracks reports of food-borne illnesses.
The local health department said it received reports from seven customers on Sunday and Monday. In response, they sent health officials to the restaurant on Monday for an inspection, and they found that it was closed. When health officials reached out to Chipotle, they found out that Chipotle had received four to five illness complaints from customers.
The business said they couldn’t get in touch with the health department to report the claims.
Chipotle told health officials that two to five staff members called out of work on Sunday and Monday, citing illnesses. They closed the restaurant Monday for deep cleaning and removal of all exposed foods and single-use equipment. Chipotle spokeswoman Laurie Schalow released a statement to Business Insider, saying, “We take all claims of food safety very seriously and we are currently looking into a few reports of illness at our Powell, Ohio, restaurant. We are not aware of any confirmed foodborne illness cases, and we are cooperating with the local health department.”
On Tuesday, July 31st, the restaurant was already reopened and operating with an entirely new staff — so their regular employees can take a “24-hour cool-down period.”
A manager at the store told the New York Post, “Last night we sanitized the restaurant and ordered all new food. Everything is brand new and we are opening at noon.”
It’s not clear exactly what happened and why so many people got sick, but this is something that will probably hurt the chain restaurant. It was reported that Chipotle’s shares fell more than 3% in the after-hours trading on Monday. What makes it worse is that this definitely isn’t the first time the chain has been linked to foodborne illnesses. Chipotle has specifically had a history with the norovirus since 2015, which is when over 50 people in 14 different states were affected. According to Fortune, shares have consistently fallen every time the chain has dealt with an illness outbreak. For instance, in 2017, when customers reported symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea after visiting a Chipotle in Sterling, Virginia, the company’s shares went down by 2%.
Taking all this into account, we’re hoping that Chipotle can get back on track soon.
