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As the cyclospora outbreak continues to spread, another food safety investigation is underway. Chipotle Mexican Grill has removed jalapeños from some of its restaurants in Minnesota amid a salmonella outbreak.
In a statement emailed to Nation’s Restaurant News, Carlota Medus, Senior Epidemiologist Supervisor in the Minnesota Department of Health Foodborne Diseases Unit, said the Minnesota Department of Health is “investigating a Salmonella Javiana outbreak associated with Mexican-style quick-service restaurants. Jalapeños are suspected as the vehicle.”
The United States Food and Drug Administration is currently conducting the traceback investigation, which includes but is not limited to jalapeños,
In a statement, Chipotle said it is aware of the investigation impacting “several foodservice retailers” and is cooperating with public health authorities.
“As part of our established health and safety protocols, upon learning of a potential outbreak, we immediately initiated our ingredient traceability system and were able to identify jalapeños as a potential common ingredient from a common lot, and the restaurants where it was distributed. Out of an abundance of caution, we proactively removed the jalapenos from our restaurants and replaced them with product from different growers,” the company said.
The MDH has identified 110 Salmonella Javiana cases in Minnesota that are part of this outbreak.
Medus said the cases were linked using whole genome sequencing. Among 84 Minnesota cases reached for interview, 75 (89%) reported eating at Chipotle from June 14 to July 14, a majority of which visited from June 24 to July 2.
The cases that reported not eating at Chipotle ate at “a variety of other Mexican-style restaurants.”
Other states are contributing to the investigation.
“Chipotle has fully collaborated on every aspect of this investigation; ranging from providing records and information about the foods they receive at their restaurants, as well as implementing mitigation steps right away to prevent further transmission, including removing the suspected jalapeños from all the restaurants that received that product,” Medus said.
It is too soon for officials to know if the outbreak is ongoing.
Medus said the department is “not concerned” about Chipotle given the measures the chain put into place.
“But it is possible that the outbreak is ongoing if the contaminated food item is being served elsewhere. We do expect the case count to increase even if the illnesses occurred a couple of weeks ago, since it takes us a while to detect cases in surveillance,” Medus said.
Chipotle’s shares fell nearly 10% following the news, which was first reported by Bloomberg.
Contact Alicia Kelso at Alicia.Kelso@informa.com
Follow her on TikTok: @aliciakelso
