E. coli Outbreak Over, Chipotle Readies for Super Bowl Weekend

Speculation is abounding that Chipotle Mexican Grill is recovering from its recent E. coli outbreak.

Shares of the company rose almost 5 percent on Monday, reports CNN Money, while the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control also announced on Monday that Chipotle’s E. coli outbreak is over.

The totals, according to the CDC: 60 cases, 22 hospitalizations across 13 states.

The center said in a press release Monday that many of the affected customers ate “many of the same food items,” but because many ingredients are cooked together and served in several different food items, the investigation could not link E. coli back to a specific item.

Last month, Chipotle announced that all of its restaurants will be closed on Feb. 8, 2016, for a company-wide meeting on last year’s E.coli outbreak and an even-more recent norovirus outbreak.

The topic of the meeting will be food safety.

Several Chipotle locations had to close permanently during an E.coli outbreak in 2015. A norovirus outbreak later infected 141 people in Boston.

On Jan. 6, Chipotle was served with a federal grand jury subpoena regarding a norovirus outbreak last year at one of its California restaurants. Chipotle is required to produce documents that are tied to the Simi Valley restaurant where the virus was detected.

Company sales fell 30 percent in December.

Chipotle will be doubling up on the amount of free food for customers when it reopens. Chipotle has locations throughout the metro Atlanta area, including Buckhead, Sandy Springs, Dunwoody, North Druid Hills, Decatur, Smyrna-Vinings, Marietta and Kennesaw.

CEO Steve Ellis issued the following statement regarding the recent crises: ”I’m hopeful that the CDC will call this over soon. We know that Chipotle is as safe as it’s ever been before. We are all very confident that this E. coli outbreak would not happen again.”

Chipotle is reportedly planning big discounts for Super Bowl parties this weekend in an effort to recoup lost sales and regain customers’ trust.