'We should expect to see another outbreak': Chipotle is replacing its CEO amid soaring reports of illnesses at its restaurants (CMG)

pulse

November 18, 2017 3:02 PM

The rate of self-reported foodborne illnesses is higher for Chipotle than any other restaurant chain in the US, according to IWasPoisoned.com.

Chipotle said Wednesday that it's replacing its CEO, Steve Ells, who founded the burrito chain more than two decades ago.
The rate of self-reported foodborne illnesses is higher for
The data indicates another outbreak attributed to Chipotle is possible within the next six to 12 months, according to the website's founder.

Chipotle said Wednesday that it is replacing its CEO, Steve Ells, who founded the chain more than two decades ago.

The company is searching for a new CEO amid reports that food safety problems are persisting more than two years after an E. coli outbreak sent the company's sales sliding.

The rate of self-reported foodborne illnesses are at least nine times higher for Chipotle than all other restaurant chains, says Patrick Quade, the founder of IWasPoisoned.com.

IWasPoisoned.com allows people to self-report suspected foodborne illnesses. The crowd-sourced nature of the data leaves room for a large margin of error, but the website has a track record of accurately spotting illness outbreaks even before health officials or restaurant managers are aware.

For example, Quade was the first to spot the norovirus outbreak at the Chipotle in Sterling, Virginia, following a cluster of reports made to IWasPoisoned.com. Chipotle closed its restaurant for several days following the outbreak.

It's highly possible that people are more likely to report getting sick after eating at Chipotle because of the restaurant chain's past issues with food safety. Many people also tend to blame whatever they ate last for an illness, when in reality, symptoms of sicknesses like norovirus don't show up for 24-48 hours after ingestion of infected food.

But even accounting for such anomalies, Chipotle's illness reports still far outweigh its peers, Quade says.

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