E coli Mexican Grill

[sanfanciscotreat]

What is your reaction to the E coli illnesses attributed to eating at Chipotle Mexican Grill during the past several months? As a retired food safety professional, I find it most irresponsible for this chain to be so poorly managed in the area of food safety. I did eat at one of their restaurants a couple of years ago and was put off by the high prices and mediocre quality of food. Have not eaten there since and seems that was one of my best decisions.

[Midpack]

So if you're a food safety professional you know that many restaurants, grocery stores, and food manufacturers have had a wide variety of health issues arise. Not OK, but not unique to Chipotle by any means, and many more local sources fly under the big news radar.

Since you're a pro, what's the solution to avoid the next one? We already know about Chipotle...

http://www.about-ecoli.com/ecoli_outbreaks#.VniVzK9OKrU

Quote:

AFG and Supervalu E. coli Outbreak AgVenture Farms / Florida Fair E. coli Outbreak Ambassador Restaurant E. coli Outbreak Ambassel Ehtiopian Cuisine & Bar E. coli Outbreak Aunt Mid’s Lettuce E. coli Outbreak Bauer Meats E. coli Outbreak Baugher’s Apple Cider E. coli Outbreak BBQ Shack E. coli Outbreak BJ’s Wholesale Club E. coli Outbreak Bravo Farms Gouda Cheese (Sold by Costco) E. coli Outbreak Burma Superstar E. coli Outbreak California Romaine Lettuce E. coli Outbreak – Washington State Camp Bournedale-South Shore Meats E. coli Outbreak Camp Lutherhaven E. coli O26 Outbreak Captain’s Galley Seafood Restaurant E. coli Outbreak Cargill E. coli Outbreak (2007) Cargill Ground Beef E. coli O26 Outbreak Carneco and Sam’s Club E. coli Outbreak CCC Alternative Learning Program Daycare E. coli Outbreak China Buffet E. coli Outbreak Cleveland County Fair E. coli Outbreak Coco Loco E. coli Outbreak in College Station, TX ConAgra E. coli Outbreak Country Cottage Restaurant E coli O111 Outbreak Cozy Vale Creamery Raw Milk E. coli Outbreak Crossroads Farm (N.C. State Fair) E. coli Outbreak Cuyahoga County E. coli and HUS outbreak D. DeFranco and Sons Hazelnuts Nationwide E. coli Outbreak Dee Creek Farm E. coli Outbreak Dole and Natural Selections Spinach E. coli Outbreak Dole Lettuce E. coli Outbreak Dungeness Valley Creamery Raw Milk E. coli Outbreak E. coli O145 Outbreak Plagues South El Mexicano Restaurant E. coli Outbreak - Spartanburg, SC Emmpak E. coli Outbreak European E. coli O104 (EHEC) Outbreak Linked to Sprouts Excel E. coli Outbreak Fairbank Farms E. coli Outbreak Farm Rich Brand Frozen Pizza, Quesadilla & Mozzarella Stick E. coli Outbreak Federico’s Mexican Restaurant E. coli Outbreak Finley School District E. coli Outbreak Flanders Provision Company E. coli Outbreak Forest Ranch Fire Department Fundraiser E. coli Outbreak Foundation Farm Raw Milk E. coli Outbreak Freshway Lettuce E. coli O145 Outbreak Glass Onion Catering Salad & Wrap E. coli Outbreak Glenn’s Market & Catering E. coli Outbreak Gold Coast Produce E. coli Outbreak Golden Corral E. coli Outbreak Habaneros E. coli Outbreak Hartmann Farm Dairy Raw Milk E. coli Outbreak Herb Depot / Autumn Olives Farm Raw Goat’s Milk E. coli Outbreak Interstate Meat E. coli Outbreak Ixtapa Mexican Restaurant E. coli Outbreak J.B. Meats E. coli Outbreak Jack in the Box E. coli Outbreak Japan E. coli O111 Outbreak Jaquith Strawberry Farm E. coli Outbreak Jason’s Deli E. coli Outbreak JBS Swift E. coli Outbreak Jimmy John’s clover sprouts E. coli O26 Outbreak Jimmy John’s E. coli Outbreak (2013) Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches E. coli Outbreak Karl Ehmer / IBP E. coli Outbreak Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) E. coli Outbreak KFC/Taco Bell E. coli Outbreak Linked to Lettuce Kid’s Korner Daycare E. coli Outbreak Kindercare E. coli Outbreak King Garden Restaurant E. coli Outbreak Lane County Fair E. coli Outbreak Longhorn Steakhouse E. coli Outbreak Los Burritos Mexicanos E. coli Outbreak McBee Dairy Farm Raw Milk E. coli Outbreak McNees Meats & Wholesale Ground Beef E. coli Outbreak National Steak and Poultry E. coli O157:H7 Outbreak National Western Stock Show E. coli Outbreak Nebraska Beef E. coli O157:H7 Outbreak 2006 Nebraska Beef E. coli Outbreak 2008 Neff’s Lawn Care Picnic E. coli Outbreak Nestle Toll House Cookie Dough E. coli Outbreak North Carolina State Fair E. coli Outbreak (2011) Odwalla Apple Juice E. coli Outbreak Olive Garden E. coli Outbreak Organic Pastures Raw Milk & Colostrum E. coli Outbreak (2006) Organic Pastures Raw Milk E. coli Outbreak (2011) Parsley E. coli Outbreak Peninsula Village E. coli Outbreak PM Beef Holdings E. coli Outbreak Robeson School District E. coli Outbreak Robinswood Pointe E. coli Outbreak Rochester Meat Company E. coli Outbreak Rocky Mountain Natural Meats Bison Meat E. coli outbreak S & S Foods - Boy Scout Camp E. coli Outbreak Sally Jackson Cheese E. coli Outbreak Schnucks Romaine Lettuce E. coli Outbreak Seltzers Lebanon Bologna E. coli Outbreak Sizzler E. coli Outbreak Sodexho (Sequoias Retirement Center) E. coli Outbreak Spokane Produce Lettuce E. coli Outbreak State Garden Organic Spinach E. coli Outbreak

[sanfanciscotreat]

Attempting to be all natural, organic, non GMO, no antibiotics leaves a lot of territory to audit and verify in the area of food safety. A large national chain would need to expend a lot of money and expertise to monitor all these suppliers.

[youbet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sanfanciscotreat What is your reaction to the E coli illnesses attributed to eating at Chipotle Mexican Grill during the past several months? As a retired food safety professional, I find it most irresponsible for this chain to be so poorly managed in the area of food safety. I did eat at one of their restaurants a couple of years ago and was put off by the high prices and mediocre quality of food. Have not eaten there since and seems that was one of my best decisions.

I understand that Chipotle Mexican Grill is guilty of an episode of E coli contamination as, sadly, a number of restaurants are every year. But I'm curious about your comment "poorly managed in the area of food safety." As a retired food safety professional, would you please comment further? What examples (please, actual examples not speculation or a restatement of general food safety rules) could you point out that Chipotle management committed that we could all be on the lookout for as we take our lives in our hands dining out.

[HadEnuff]

another reason to stay at home and cook my own food.
The others being:
I like my cooking.
I like my homemade wine better.
My wine doesn't cost me $8/glass
I don't have to drive home after drinking too much of the $8/glass wine.

[harley]

I would assume, based on Midpack's chart, that the only way to be safe is to eat only foods produced by companies who's name start with T - Z. And maybe Q.

[mpeirce]

My Mom recently had a bad case of E Coli. She was sick enough that she had to go into the ER. They sent her home with some antibiotics. Then they called her back because her strain tested immune to the antibiotic she was prescribed. They put her on intravenous antibiotics and admitted her to the hospital for a day to observe her. Here white blood cell count was very high.

That was about two weeks ago and she's still not all better - but improving.

She's not sure where she picked it up (she lives in Fort Lauderdale). She hasn't eaten at Chipotle recently[edit] recently.

[youbet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HadEnuff another reason to stay at home and cook my own food. The others being: I like my cooking. I like my homemade wine better. My wine doesn't cost me $8/glass I don't have to drive home after drinking too much of the $8/glass wine.

I've never been to a Chipotles restaurant. Do they serve wine? If so, they seem like a bit of a low tier place to be getting $8/glass.

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mpeirce She hasn't eaten recently.

This is the key, IMHO.
Every one of these problems was caused by eating.
OTOH, I have never heard of anyone contracting an E. coli infection by drinking.

I leave the conclusion to you, but I think I have it figured out.
[burp]

[meierlde]

Quote:

Originally Posted by braumeister This is the key, IMHO. Every one of these problems was caused by eating. OTOH, I have never heard of anyone contracting an E. coli infection by drinking. I leave the conclusion to you, but I think I have it figured out. [burp]

Of course this is why in the early US hard cider was preferred to water or milk. A bit of alcohol seems to keep many bacteria at bay. Perhaps then if alcohol works against e-coli alcohol containing salad dressings here is a link to a post a blog on scientific american about alcohol and e-coli: Strong Medicine: Drinking Wine and Beer Can Help Save You from Cholera, Montezuma s Revenge, E. Coli and Ulcers 1 - Scientific American Blog Network
The post discusses cholera in Inverness in 1832 and alcohol. Perhaps then Cipotle should serve some straight vodka with their food.

[sanfanciscotreat]

During my career numerous advances in food safety auditing and verification have evolved. The most recent is GFSI, Global Food Safety Initiative. KFC and McDonalds have accepted this program and require suppliers to meet these standards, which are for more extensive and complex than can be detailed here. KFC and Mickey Ds do not have an extensive number of local suppliers to their restaurants, enabling them to focus on a smaller number of suppliers which must meet internationally accepted standards, such as having a verified and validated HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) program. Chipotle has a number of local suppliers for their restaurants and the sheer numbers and expense for small suppliers to meet GFSI standard makes them more susceptible to food safety problems.

[HadEnuff]

Quote:

Originally Posted by youbet I've never been to a Chipotles restaurant. Do they serve wine? If so, they seem like a bit of a low tier place to be getting $8/glass.

I have never been there either. I checked the menu online. No wine.

They do have beer, though.

guess I'll just stay home.

[HadEnuff]

Quote:

Originally Posted by braumeister This is the key, IMHO. Every one of these problems was caused by eating. OTOH, I have never heard of anyone contracting an E. coli infection by drinking. I leave the conclusion to you, but I think I have it figured out. [burp]

I agree. You got it.

[powerplay]

I ate at Chipolte about a month before the first outbreak. What is disturbing is that nobody has been able to determine the source of the illness.

I have a couple of free meal coupons that expire at the end of the month and after listening to the news tonight the coupons will just have to expire.

[athena53]

Life is a crapshoot. My 85-year old mother got salmonella from a salad at a Mexican chain restaurant, not Chipotle. Sorry, I don't know which one, but it was reported to the Health Dept. DH and I rarely eat out but we're in road trip mode right now so we've had a few restaurant meals, mostly Subway. Chipotle wouldn't scare me right now; they're probably more cautious than most. I just avoid them because their portions are huge.

[youbet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sanfanciscotreat During my career numerous advances in food safety auditing and verification have evolved. The most recent is GFSI, Global Food Safety Initiative. KFC and McDonalds have accepted this program and require suppliers to meet these standards, which are for more extensive and complex than can be detailed here. KFC and Mickey Ds do not have an extensive number of local suppliers to their restaurants, enabling them to focus on a smaller number of suppliers which must meet internationally accepted standards, such as having a verified and validated HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) program. Chipotle has a number of local suppliers for their restaurants and the sheer numbers and expense for small suppliers to meet GFSI standard makes them more susceptible to food safety problems.

So stay away from restaurants that source locally at farmer's markets or local organic farms and go to Mickey D's and KFC instead?

[meierlde]

Quote:

Originally Posted by youbet So stay away from restaurants that source locally at farmer's markets or local organic farms and go to Mickey D's and KFC instead?

Interestingly I read that Chipolte will be moving to cleaning and bagging produce at central locations, and bag it up. Which of course is what the big chains do.

[audreyh1]

The whole Blue Bell Ice-cream listeria saga was quite an eye-opener.

Plant shut downs, huge recalls, no ice cream sales for a long period of time.

How the listeria recall tarnished ice cream maker Blue Bell - Fortune
After listeria deaths, Blue Bell is taking slow road - Houston Chronicle

[Options]

I hate to break it to you, but you're in contact with E. coli all the time. Years ago here in Los Angeles, the local CBS affiliate went undercover in restaurants here . It was a sensational expose, in which one commercial for the upcoming news segment looped a kitchen worker picking his nose over and over again. It showed vermin and pest infestation/droppings, lack of hot water in restaurant kitchens, restrooms without soap which kitchen help used. Fortunately, this led to restaurants in Southern California having to operate under a letter grade system upon inspection by the health department.

Not content with grossing people out with the restaurant expose (which in fact caused some of those nasty restaurants to close), the news station then did cotton swabs of Socal ATMs, phone booth key pads, etc. What did they find? E coli. And research has shown that shopping cart handles are dirtier than your toilet seat.

What is E. coli? From Wikipedia:

Quote:

fecal–oral transmission is the major route through which pathogenic strains of the bacterium cause disease. Cells are able to survive outside the body for a limited amount of time, which makes them potential indicator organisms to test environmental samples for fecal contamination. A growing body of research, though, has examined environmentally persistent E. coli which can survive for extended periods outside of a host

As a result of this, and seeing one too many co-workers, gym attendees, and other public restroom users come out of a toilet stall without washing their hands, I no longer shake hands, but do the bump fist instead. I have no idea whether someone has had the common decency to wash.

By the way, very recent research has shown the folding seat tray and seat arms in an airplane are dirtier than the airplane toilet because they aren't cleaned, unlike the toilet. Take your sanitizing wipes.

[bUU]

Quote:

Originally Posted by youbet What examples (please, actual examples not speculation or a restatement of general food safety rules) could you point out that Chipotle management committed that we could all be on the lookout for as we take our lives in our hands dining out.

I'm curious about the answer to this as well, as I haven't read anything yet that indicates rampant wrongdoing by company staff. I was under the impression that the problems were attributable mostly to lax enforcement of food safety protocols more generally in our society, which just happened to affect Chipotle disproportionately due to their size, their efforts to use local and sustainable sources, and the revenues that the media can enjoy from focusing so much attention on a company who's stock had climbed so high.

Quote:

Originally Posted by youbet So stay away from restaurants that source locally at farmer's markets or local organic farms and go to Mickey D's and KFC instead?

That's the way I read it. And I'm not sure, from a short-term safety perspective, that it isn't the "right" answer. However, we need a better answer to be made available.