Chipotle is now officially on the road to recovery after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Monday that the E. coli outbreaks that sickened people at multiple locations, heralding the end of the investigation into the burrito chain.
Even as the investigation ends, there are still one main question that remains: what caused the outbreak? The CDC said it still doesn't know the answer due to the way the Chipotle serves its food, concluding that it was likely due to "a common meal item or ingredient" served there.
"When a restaurant serves foods with several ingredients that are mixed or cooked together and then used in multiple menu items, it can be more difficult for epidemiological studies to identity the specific ingredient that is contaminated," said the CDC in a release, according to CNN.
No new cases have been reported since the CDC gave an update on the situation on Dec. 21. Chipotle was pleased to hear the investigation was over, noting that the chain has taken steps to ensure another outbreak never happens again.
"Over the past few months we have taken significant steps to improve the safety of all of the food we serve, and we are confident that the changes we have made mean that every item on our menu is delicious and safe," Chipotle said in a statement, according to ABC News.
The road to reach this point has been a long one for Chipotle, with the chain's troubles beginning in July when health authorities tracked five illnesses to one restaurant in Seattle. Later in August, nearly 100 were sickened by norovirus after eating at an outlet in Simi Valley, Calif., and in September more than 60 fell ill in Minnesota.
Reports of sicknesses had only widened since then, starting in October in Oregon and Washington that spread to seven other states, sickening more than 50 people by mid-November, while in December roughly 140 students at Boston College were infected with norovirus. Lastly in December, federal health officials investigated five cases of E. coli poisoning in Kansas, North Dakota and Oklahoma.
Now Chipotle can focus on gaining back the trust of all its customers that it lost. Part of this effort includes new food-safety measures, targeted promotions and a marketing campaign that will be launched this month, reported USA Today. Furthermore, all Chipotle locations will momentarily close on Feb. 8 to have meetings about the issue with employees.
However, it might not need to work too hard to achieve that the goal. Despite an expected drop in sales and earnings per share for the fourth quarter - which will be announced Tuesday, shares have bounced back about 15 percent from their lows in recent weeks and were up nearly 5 percent in afternoon trading Monday to $474.23.
