An Ohio branch of Chipotle Mexican Grill has been forced to close after 170 customers reported getting sick, another blow for the much-maligned chain. Chipotle’s stock dropped 7 percent with the news, yet another incident of food safety problems at the chain.
“The local health department has informed us of two customer complaints of illness at one restaurant in Powell,” a Chipotle spokesperson said in a statement. “We acted quickly and closed this single restaurant out of an abundance of caution yesterday. We are working with the local health department and we plan to reopen this restaurant today.”
While the inspection report found no violations of food safety standards, the outbreak comes as Chipotle slowly tries to recover from a horrendous 2015, in which a series of food safety issues sent stock plummeting, ultimately leading to a complete overhaul of executive staff. Despite this, a norovirus outbreak at a Chipotle in Virginia also left up to 130 people ill.
