Insights on the Chipotle Restaurant Closures

QA Magazine Contributor and Advisory Board Member Dr. David Acheson recently contributed an article to Forbes on the recent Chipotle closures in Oregon and Washington.

The recent closure of some 40 Chipotle restaurants in Oregon and Washington states is an abrupt reminder that food safety risks never go away.  The reason behind the restaurant closures is because close to 40 people have allegedly become sick from consumption of food at that restaurant chain and some of those restaurants.

The bacteria that caused the illnesses linked to Chipotle restaurants is a type of E. coli that goes by the name of E. coli O26.  This particular type of bacteria is a close cousin of another well-known E. coli called E. coli O157.

The two types of bacteria both have the ability to produce a toxin that has the capability to cause kidney failure, strokes and in severe cases death.  So these bacteria are not ones to take lightly.  Some reading this may think that E. coli O157 sounds familiar.  If you think that you would be correct.  It was in 1993 when that type of bacteria caused a large outbreak of illness on the west coast that was linked to a restaurant chain called Jack-in-the-Box.

Read the full article.  

Read Chipotle’s most recent update.