Chipotle Stores Will Close Feb. 8 For Company-Wide Meeting

Chipotle will temporarily close all stores on February 8 for a company-wide meeting about food safety, according to multiple reports, after outbreaks of E. coli and norovirus at locations across the country have sickened hundreds of customers and led to a criminal investigation.

All U.S. restaurants will be closed for lunch and will re-open at 3 p.m. in each time zone, according to NBC News.

SEE ALSO:

• Chipotle Faces Criminal Investigation After Virus Outbreak
• Boston Chipotle Outbreak: 140 Now Ill
• Chipotle E. Coli Outbreak Spreads

Illnesses linked to Chipotle food have been reported in the Pacific Northwest and across the Northeast, including in Maryland, New York and New Jersey. At least 140 people, nearly all Boston College students, fell ill with norovirus in December after eating at a Chipotle near campus.

The closing announcement was made at an investor conference Wednesday in Florida, where the company’s founder and co-Chief Executive Steve Ells said that nobody has gotten sick from E. coli at Chipotle since November, according to the Wall Street Journal.

“I’m confident we’ll recover from this and win back our customers,” he reportedly said.