Popular US chain Chipotle was recently hit by an unfortunate E. coli scare when more than 40 people in the states of Washington and Oregon became ill with during October 2015.
The outbreak was traced back to Chipotle when a large number of those who tested positive reported having recently eaten at one of the company’s outlets.
The stores in the two affected states voluntarily closed their doors, and only reopened towards the middle of November.
Moreover, before reopening, the stores disposed of all existing food items, carefully sanitised every facility and brought in all-new food.
Menu items identified as high risk have also been flagged for testing before being sent to restaurants, and all fresh produce will be carefully rinsed and sanitised going forward.
At the time of writing, no evidence of E. coli within Chipotle’s facilities had been found, though health officials said that this is not unusual, since contaminated food could easily have already been consumed or thrown away.