Chipotle Subpoenaed, Faces Criminal Investigation, After Virus Outbreak

By Marc Torrence and Charlene Arsenault (Patch staff)

Chipotle, the popular burrito chain that has been rocked by a string of illnesses linked to its food, faces a criminal investigation in connection with a norovirus outbreak at one of its California restaurants, a company spokesman confirmed Wednesday to Patch.

The company has closed stores across the country in the wake of norovirus and E. coli outbreaks at several locations nationwide that have sickened hundreds.

A Boston-area Chipotle was shut down in December after roughly 140 people were sickened after eating at the Cleveland Circle location, many of them Boston College students.

Chipotle CEO and founder Steve Ells apologized to the public, and promised the company has learned form the outbreaks that have affected restaurants across the country.

In Boston’s case, health officials determined it was a norovirus that sickened the college students, which Chipotle officials acknowledged in a statement.

Boston and Massachusetts department of health officials found three violations that included chicken and steak not being held at proper temperatures, and an employee working while ill. The Boston Food Services Inspection Department temporary shut down the location, which has since reopened. The restaurant was allowed to reopen on Dec. 24 after a follow-up inspection, and a manager and the employee who came to work sick and transmitted the virus were fired over the incident.

“Norovirus is usually transmitted from the feces to the mouth, either by drinking contaminated food or water or by passing from person to person,” according to Foodborne Illness. “Because noroviruses are easily transmitted, are resistant to common disinfectants, and are hard to contain using normal sanitary measures, they can cause extended outbreaks.”

A subpoena demanding a wide range of documents relating to a norovirus outbreak at a Simi Valley, California, store was received last month, the Associated Press reported.

The Chipotle spokesman would not confirm any further details.

“As a matter of policy, we do not discuss details surrounding pending legal actions, but we will cooperate fully with this investigation,” Chipotle’s Director of Communications, Chris Arnold, said.

Illnesses linked to Chipotle food have also been reported in the Pacific Northwest and across the Northeast, including in Maryland, New York and New Jersey.

The Chipotle-linked outbreaks, which have been covered heavily in the national press, have led to a 30 percent drop in sales in December, according to the AP.

Norovirus is a contagious virus that can come from contaminated food, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It causes inflammation in the stomach and intestines, which leads to vomiting and diarrhea.

The virus causes 19 to 21 million illnesses and 570 to 800 deaths per year, the CDC says.

E. coli, on the other hand, is a bacteria that lives in and around a healthy intestinal tract, according to the CDC. But dangerous E. coli can lead to “diarrhea, while others cause urinary tract infections, respiratory illness and pneumonia, and other illnesses,” the CDC says.

The CDC has counted 53 cases of E. coli linked to the Chipotle outbreak.