c/o Robert Galbraith/Reuters
Chipotle is in hot water again, but this time, it might not be because of the E. coli virus blamed for previous hospitalizations after eating at the restaurant chain’s outlets.
Earlier this week, a spokesman of the restaurant said that it “(does) not have any evidence” to suggest that the case of food poisoning that affected 30 Boston College students was connected to the controversial E. coli outbreak that government health officials have linked to Chipotle. Prior to the Boston College incident, 52 people in nine states fell ill to E. coli, with 47 of them claiming they ate at the Mexican restaurant chain before becoming sick.
As of Monday, 30 Boston College students, including eight men’s basketball team players had fallen sick to gastrointestinal symptoms after eating at Chipotle, though newer reports put that total at 80, or almost 30 more people than the previous count from the E. coli outbreak. Chipotle has since closed its Cleveland Circle restaurant in Boston, and had subsequently elaborated that the students fell victim to an isolated norovirus case.
Chipotle shares slipped by 6.4 percent on Monday, and are still taking a beating in the stock market, having fallen another 2.31 percent to $540.92 as of 2:38 p.m. The company also expects to suffer its first quarterly decline in sales since going public in 2006.