Chipotle closes Virginia store after reports of illness
NEW YORK — Chipotle temporarily closed a restaurant in a Washington, D.C., suburb after reports that customers had become ill, news that sent its shares down more than 6 percent as skittish investors worried about the chain’s past food scares.
The company says it shut down a location in Sterling, Virginia, on Monday after learning of a “small number” of reported illnesses with symptoms consistent with norovirus. It said it planned to reopen the restaurant Tuesday after a “complete sanitization,” but did not provide a specific time.
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. says it is working with health authorities to understand the cause of the illnesses. The company notes that norovirus, which can cause nausea, stomach pain and diarrhea, does not come from its food supply and said it is safe to eat at its restaurants.
Its shares nonetheless fell 6.4 percent Tuesday to $366.86, after Business Insider reported the closure. Given its history, Chipotle has previously said that any food safety incidents could have an outsized negative impact on its sales, even if reports turn out to be erroneous or stem from factors outside its control.
The company has been working to bounce back from food scares that included an E. coli outbreak in the fall of 2015 and a norovirus case in Boston later that year. It subsequently said that it made tweaks to cooking methods and added training for employees to tighten its safety measures.
The Denver-based company also gave away coupons for free burritos and spent more on marketing to win back customers. Sales had been showing improvement against a low bar of comparison. For the first three months of this year, sales were up 18 percent at established locations. That followed a 20 percent decline for all of 2016.
Despite its efforts, Chipotle has said it may still be at higher risk for food-borne illnesses than others because of its greater use of fresh produce and meats.
David Goodfriend, director of the Loudoun County Health Department in Virginia, said his office was contacted by Chipotle on Monday and told the company had voluntarily closed the location for a cleaning. Goodfriend said the health department also had been contacted by a couple doctor’s offices and residents who reported symptoms.
While he isn’t certain that the restaurant was the cause of the illnesses, Goodfriend said individuals were associating their symptoms with the chain.
Norovirus is the leading cause of illness and outbreaks from contaminated food in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Infected employees are frequently the source of the outbreaks, the CDC says, often by touching foods such as raw fruits and vegetables with their bare hands before serving them.
This Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017, photo shows a sign on a Chipotle restaurant. Chipotle says it temporarily shut down a restaurant in Virginia, on Monday, July 17, 2017, after becoming aware of reports of illnesses. The chain says it’s working to understand the cause, but that the reported symptoms are consistent with norovirus. The company says it plans to reopen the location in Sterling, Va., after a “complete sanitization” later on Tuesday, July 18, and that its food is safe to eat. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)