Tomatoes identified as source of Salmonella outbreak in Chipotle restaurants

Tomatoes identified as source of Salmonella outbreak in Chipotle restaurants photo Tomatoes identified as source of Salmonella outbreak in Chipotle restaurants

Minnesota health officials have determined the cause of the recent salmonella outbreak that was linked to Chipotle restaurants. The Minnesota Department of Health imagines it’ll grow higher still, and nine people have been hospitalized (though they’re all recovering just fine).



Investigators are working with state and federal partners to trace the tomatoes back to the farm from which they came. The number of sick people continues to climb – it’s now up to 64 cases, stemming from 22 Chipotles in the state.

“It can take up to 10 days for symptoms of Salmonella to appear, another few days to a week before people go to their doctors and the cases get reported to us”, MDH epidemiologist Dana Eikmeier said in a statement.

Meal dates for the cases range from August 16th to August 28th, and people became ill between August 19th and September 3rd.

While this issue has not presented a public health risk for some time, Chipotle is pleased to see the investigation coming to a close, said spokesperson Chris Arnold. East metro locations included two restaurants in Maplewood and one in Eagan. Officials said there is no ongoing health threat; Chipotle has switched tomato suppliers and the tainted product was removed from store shelves.

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