Stop playing with Just Bare chicken: In-house tampering behind need to recall 27 tons

Posted on June 20, 2016 by Douglas Powell

In-house tampering is being blamed for GNP Co. of central Minnesota recalling more than 27 tons of chicken over the weekend after contaminants were detected in some of the product that was distributed primarily to food service and institutional outlets.

The recall involving the Gold’n Plump and Just Bare brands by the Upper Midwest’s leading chicken manufacturer follows the company disclosing the discovery of sand and black soil in the chicken. GNP is the parent of the popular Gold’n Plump brand.

“Our own inspections turned it up,” said Lexann Reischl, a GNP spokeswoman, “and two food service customers called and told us they found the same material.”

In a statement issued Sunday afternoon, the company said, “Extraneous foreign matter … is linked to an isolated product tampering incident that occurred at the company’s Cold Spring processing plant the week of June 6.”

An employee, who has since been fired, is believed to be behind the contamination, Reischl said.

Cold Spring Police Sgt. Jason Blum said Sunday “there is a known suspect” being investigated, but an arrest has not been made.

We never had a problem: 10 sick with crypto linked to Minn. farm visit

Posted on June 4, 2016 by Douglas Powell

The Litchfield Independent Review reports the Minnesota Department of Health is investigating an outbreak of diarrheal illness possibly linked to school students visiting Nelson Farm southwest of Litchfield.

More than 10 cases of diarrheal illness, including three confirmed cases of Cryptosporidium infection, have been reported from five different schools. In all cases, individuals had taken field trips to Nelson Farm, according to a health advisory issued by the agency May 26.

On the morning of May 26, Department of Health officials visited the farm to tour its facilities, according to Nelson Farm owner Don Nelson.

“Right now we don’t even know if it came from our farm,” he said. “We won’t know until next week (when the test results come back).”

Outbreaks associated with farm animal contact may include multiple pathogens including Salmonella, Campylobacter, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), and Cryptosporidium, the health advisory states. The incubation period for these illnesses range from 12 hours to as long as 14 days.

Don said he was informed the evening of May 25 of the possible outbreak, which came as a surprise to both himself and his wife, Sonja.

“We’ve done this for 30 years, and we have never ever have been called on this before,” Sonja said.

“We won’t deny that there is chance we wouldn’t have anything because everything has bacteria,” she added, but emphasized that the Department of Health has not confirmed whether Nelson Farm caused the outbreak.

Don said Department of Health officials were impressed with the overall state of the farm, noting that they had positive comments on the farm’s hand washing areas and where visitors eat.

“I’m very, very concerned because we want to make it a healthy experience on the farm,” Don said. “That’s our goal.”

Since being notified by the state, Don has called all the schools that visited Nelson Farm since May 9 to see if children have gotten sick, one of which was the School of St. Philip.

Nearly 20 kindergarten, first-grade and second-grade students at the School of St. Philip visited the farm May 23 for their annual spring field trip.

“At this point we have not heard of any instances associated with that outbreak,” Principal Michelle Kramer said.

While on the farm, students toured an old barn, visited animals, played in the hay barn and had lunch at the farm.

“I’m sure we’ll be back at Nelson Farm next year. These things happen, and we have to take every precaution that we can, but we’re not going to cut them out of our school schedule because they have a very great deal to add to our programming here,” Kramer said.

For Don and Sonja, the investigation has become a teaching opportunity in how to prevent the transmission of illnesses.

“Thirty years ago it was our goal to get close to the animals to give the best possible learning experience,” Don said.

Many of the students who are visiting the farm are now more susceptible to diseases than 30 years ago, he explained.

“Our young students don’t play in the dirt as much, not around as many farm animals, generally live in cleaner environments such as schools, homes, businesses, therefore immunity and resistance to diseases is lower today,” Don said.

Another time for Don’s version of the hygiene hypothesis. For now, focus on the kids.

A table of petting zoo outbreaks is available at https://barfblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Petting-Zoo-Outbreaks-Table-5-5-16.xlsx

Best practices for planning events encouraging human-animal interations

Zoonoses and Public Health 62:90-99

Erdozain , K. KuKanich , B. Chapman and D. Powell, 2015

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/zph.12117/abstract?deniedAccess

Educational events encouraging human–animal interaction include the risk of zoonotic disease transmission. ‘It is estimated that 14% of all disease in the USA caused by Campylobacter spp., Cryptosporidium spp., Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157, non-O157 STECs, Listeria monocytogenes, nontyphoidal Salmonella enterica and Yersinia enterocolitica were attributable to animal contact. This article reviews best practices for organizing events where human–animal interactions are encouraged, with the objective of lowering the risk of zoonotic disease transmission.

Going public: Kale sucks and sickened 6 with Salmonella in Minn. in April

Posted on May 16, 2016 by Douglas Powell

Posting a product recall (alert) notice on a company website, and then quickly removing it, is like putting down sugar to ward off ants. For the few remaining investigative journalists, such actions are akin to painting a bullseye on the company for further questioning.

And it shouldn’t be that way.

There is a scientific, public health and moral reason to make outbreaks known, whether product is still on the shelves or not. It’s how the rest of us mere mortals learn, it’s how to make things better, it’s the right thing to do.

Anyone who hides behind legalese is not worthy of trust – especially the consumer faith and trust that goes into every food purchase — because industry government, and academia rationalize a Chomsky-esque form of self-censorship that is barf-inducing to watch, and made worse by the Salmonella.

Coral Beach, formerly of The Packer and now with Bill Marler’s Food Safety News, reports that government and corporate entities failed to reveal in April that they were investigating a cluster of Salmonella illnesses in which at least five out of six victims reported eating Taylor Farms Organic Kale Medley Power Greens Mix purchased at various Sam’s Club locations.

After a notice on another company’s website — Pacific Coast Fruit Co. of Portland — brought the situation to light, Taylor Farms’ chairman and CEO Bruce Taylor confirmed that Minnesota officials had notified him about the investigation. However, it is not clear to whom Taylor issued his May 6 statement, which was still not available on the Taylor Farms website as of May 15.

Taylor’s statement, provided to Food Safety News on May 14, says:

“On Thursday, May 5th, Taylor Farms was informed by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) of an investigation of reported foodborne illness.

“In April, six people with Salmonella Enteritidis infections, with the same rare DNA fingerprint pattern, were reported to the MDH. All of those infected are from the state of Minnesota. All are recovering.

“The FDA is not requiring any action from Taylor Farms and we are not issuing any formal recalls. We will continue to work with the MDH and MDA regarding this issue.

“The safety and health of the consumers who buy our products has always and will always be the highest priority for us. We will continue to strive to deliver the industry highest quality, safest produce in the industry.”

Pleeeeassse.

Although Taylor did not reference a specific product or where it was distributed, the Pacific Coast Fruit Co. notice named Sam’s Club and said the retailer pulled Taylor Farms Organic Kale Medley Power Greens Mix from shelves nationwide on April 4.

The Pacific Coast Fruit notice, dated May 6, was available on the company’s website May 14, but has since been removed. The notice carried the headline “Taylor Farms-Organic Kale Medley Recall” and was addressed to “our customers and the Pacific Coast Fruit Team.”

Minnesota officials did not respond to weekend requests for comment on the situation. Similarly, no one from Pacific Coast Fruit or Sam’s Club responded this weekend to requests for comment.

The Pacific Coast Fruit notice said six people with Salmonella enteritidis infections, all with the same rare DNA fingerprint pattern, were reported to MDH in April. The victims ranged in age from 7 to 69 and their illnesses began between April 3 and April 26. One person was hospitalized, and all are recovering, according to Pacific Coast Fruit.

“Five of the ill people in Minnesota reported eating Taylor Farms Organic Kale Medley purchased at several Sam’s Club locations, and the source of the sixth person’s illness is under investigation,” Pacific Coast Fruit’s notice said.

An external communications spokesman for Taylor Farms said May 15 that the Salinas, CA, company did not need to issue a recall.

“No recall was needed because the issue being investigated was from back in late March early April. So, independent of the findings of the investigation, the product is no longer in the market place due to shelf-life limitations,” the Taylor Farms spokesman said.

The failure of public health officials and corporate entities to announce the spike in Salmonella cases and the subsequent investigation is the latest incident in what one food safety professional says is a disturbing, decade-long trend.

After the deadly E. coli outbreak in 2006 that was linked to bagged fresh spinach, companies have increasingly demanded governmental agencies provide confirmation results from time-consuming follow-up laboratory tests before issuing voluntary product recalls, said Douglas Powell, former professor at Kansas State University’s Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology.

Powell, who now lives in Australia, is publisher of barfblog.com, which has been monitoring and publicizing foodborne illness outbreaks since 2006 (1993, when Food Safety Network started), coined the phrase “leafy green cone of silence” to describe the lack of transparency on the part of government and industry in the decade since the spinach outbreak.

“This situation fits the pattern,” Powell told Food Safety News May 15. “It’s part of a bigger picture about the question of when to go public about outbreak investigations.

“There’s a question of public health. I don’t care that the product’s not on the shelves any more. The public has a right and a need to know about these incidents.”

Bill Marler, partner at the Seattle law firm Marler Clark LLP, had similar concerns. Marler has been representing victims of foodborne illnesses since the 1993 E. coli outbreak traced to undercooked hamburgers served by the Jack in The Box chain. He provided testimony to Congress during the drafting of the Food Safety Modernization Act.

“My main concern is the lack of transparency, and that’s not just a comment on Taylor Farms, it’s a comment on FDA, the Minnesota departments of health and agriculture and a comment on the CDC,” Marler said May 15. “I think that anytime, especially when there are illnesses involved, I think the public has an absolute right to know what’s going on.

“My assumption is that someone’s determined that the product is no longer in the marketplace because it’s a perishable product and the public’s no longer at risk. While I appreciate that, it’s not a reason to not let consumers know.

“In order for the free market to work, in order for consumers to know what products are safe or safer, the companies and the government have a responsibility to educate the consumer.

“When they withhold that kind of information, for whatever justifiable reason they think they have, it doesn’t give (consumers) the information to know how to protect themselves and their families and also calls into question public health’s commitment to the public’s health.”

Why Minnesota doesn’t post restaurant inspection reports

Posted on April 13, 2016 by Douglas Powell

Hawaii has joined other states in providing restaurant inspection data online, New Yorkers are debating whether inspections and reviews of Chinese and other ethnic restaurants are racist, and Canada is once again lauding Toronto’s red-yellow-green system of disclosure.

Strangely absent in such debate is the state of Minnesota, which is often praised for its skill and speed investigating outbreaks of foodborne illness.

According to Eric Roper of the Star Tribune, Minnesota is one of the least transparent states in the nation with regard to restaurant inspections.

A local developer posted Minneapolis restaurant inspections to the Web several years ago, but ultimately took the site down after trouble getting up-to-date data from the city. The city’s health department said it hopes to have this data live in 2016, though it had similar goals in 2013.

With regard to letter grades in particular, the city’s Environmental Health Manager Dan Huff is not a fan.

“What we have found is that jurisdictions that do have grades, more resources go into fighting over the grade than actually improving food safety,” Huff said.

He believes it would be detrimental to the inspection process. “It creates a more adversarial relationship with the inspector,” Huff said. “Because you’re like ‘Come on! I just need one point so I’m an A. Give me a break man.’”

Council Member Andrew Johnson, meanwhile, has asked staff to explore the idea further.

“Making it so people can go out to the website and look up restaurants is … a great step,” Johnson said. “But it also would be even better to have higher visibility that incentivizes businesses to put safety first and health first.”

Professor Craig Hedberg, a foodborne illness expert at the University of Minnesota, said there has not been much research into the effectiveness of various grading systems.

Not all cities are convinced by letter grades. Baltimore ditched a proposal last year to adopt them, over concerns that it would negatively impact restaurants.

Peter Oshiro, manager of Hawaii’s food safety inspection program, said “We’re taking transparency to an entirely new level,” adding that, “Information from the inspection reports empowers consumers and informs their choices. … This should be a great catalyst for the industry to improve their food safety practices and make internal quality control a priority before our inspections.”

Filion, K. and Powell, D.A. 2009.

The use of restaurant inspection disclosure systems as a means of communicating food safety information.

Journal of Foodservice 20: 287-297.

The World Health Organization estimates that up to 30% of individuals in developed countries become ill from food or water each year. Up to 70% of these illnesses are estimated to be linked to food prepared at foodservice establishments. Consumer confidence in the safety of food prepared in restaurants is fragile, varying significantly from year to year, with many consumers attributing foodborne illness to foodservice. One of the key drivers of restaurant choice is consumer perception of the hygiene of a restaurant. Restaurant hygiene information is something consumers desire, and when available, may use to make dining decisions.

Filion, K. and Powell, D.A. 2011. Designing a national restaurant inspection disclosure system for New Zealand. Journal of Food Protection 74(11): 1869-1874 .

The World Health Organization estimates that up to 30% of individuals in developed countries become ill from contaminated food or water each year, and up to 70% of these illnesses are estimated to be linked to food service facilities. The aim of restaurant inspections is to reduce foodborne outbreaks and enhance consumer confidence in food service. Inspection disclosure systems have been developed as tools for consumers and incentives for food service operators. Disclosure systems are common in developed countries but are inconsistently used, possibly because previous research has not determined the best format for disclosing inspection results. This study was conducted to develop a consistent, compelling, and trusted inspection disclosure system for New Zealand. Existing international and national disclosure systems were evaluated. Two cards, a letter grade (A, B, C, or F) and a gauge (speedometer style), were designed to represent a restaurant’s inspection result and were provided to 371 premises in six districts for 3 months. Operators (n = 269) and consumers (n = 991) were interviewed to determine which card design best communicated inspection results. Less than half of the consumers noticed cards before entering the premises; these data indicated that the letter attracted more initial attention (78%) than the gauge (45%). Fifty-eight percent (38) of the operators with the gauge preferred the letter; and 79% (47) of the operators with letter preferred the letter. Eighty-eight percent (133) of the consumers in gauge districts preferred the letter, and 72% (161) of those in letter districts preferring the letter. Based on these data, the letter method was recommended for a national disclosure system for New Zealand.

Minnesota infant survives brush with botulism

Posted on March 26, 2016 by Douglas Powell

The 3-month-old daughter of Wesley and Sarah Hendrickson of Brainerd, Della, was diagnosed earlier this month with infant botulism.

After another hospital stay at Essentia Health-St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Brainerd the next day, the Hendrickson family was airlifted to the St. Paul campus of Children’s Hospitals and Clinics later that evening. One of the doctors there had coincidentally treated two cases of infant botulism in his career beforehand and recognized the symptoms.

The doctors called a facility in California and requested them to ship a single antitoxin dose to Minnesota. That dose alone cost more than $45,000—but Della’s parents knew it could shorten her hospital stay from months to weeks.

After the dose was administered early March 13, the Hendricksons began to see a gradual improvement in Della’s condition—a breathing tube taken out one day, her ability to smile coming back another. Eventually, they moved out of the intensive care unit, to a regular hospital wing, and since then they’ve been working with rehabilitative therapists to improve Della’s functions.

Doctors project that Della will make a full recovery with no limitations, Wesley said. They might be able go home as soon as Saturday.

They can’t pin down a source for the spores. It could have been from neighbors clearing debris from the July 12 storm—or it could have been construction, or logging.

Infants can contract botulism through spores because their digestive systems produce less acid than adults—acid which would otherwise kill the toxin-producing botulism bacteria.

So far in 2016, Della has been one of two total cases of infant botulism. The other case was an infant in the metro area.

Botulism can sometimes be contracted when infants eat contaminated honey.

Minnesota’s bad year of Salmonella, great year of surveillance

Posted on February 28, 2016 by Douglas Powell

In 2015, Minnesota counted 973 people with state-confirmed Salmonella, the most since health officials started tracking in the early 1990s. Cases were up 35 percent over 2014, according to the Minnesota Department of Health, with 115 people affected by the outbreak linked to Chipotle.

“It was a huge outbreak, the biggest salmonella outbreak [in this state] since 1994,” said Kirk Smith, the health department’s head of foodborne disease investigations.

The Chipotle case, along with a huge national outbreak last year involving cucumbers, highlights a growing problem: the spread of foodborne disease through produce.

Tomatoes connected to the Chipotle outbreak were traced back to a farm in Virginia, a big tomato-growing area linked to several salmonella outbreaks in the past 15 years.

Chipotle, hit by a series of foodborne illness outbreaks last year, did not return calls for comment.

Chipotle was cooperative in Minnesota’s investigation, Smith said, and analyzed its own supply chain data to determine that tomatoes linked to the outbreak likely came from a farm in Virginia.

According to the health department, the tomatoes were sold by Lipman Produce, an Immokalee, Fla.-based company that on its website bills itself as North America’s largest open field tomato grower.

Lipman’s CEO didn’t respond to requests for comment, but in a response to a lawsuit, the company denied that it was the source of the outbreak in Minnesota.

The Virginia tomatoes were sold to a produce wholesaler that packed or repacked them, and then moved on to a distributor that delivered them to Chipotle. Where exactly the tomatoes were tainted has not been identified, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says it’s investigating.

Smith and other foodborne illness experts say contamination of produce usually occurs in unsanitary packing houses or in the fields, particularly through contaminated water.

From 1990 to 2010, there were 15 multistate salmonella outbreaks linked to raw tomatoes; four were traced to farms or packing houses in Virginia.

Virginia’s tomato industry is centered on its eastern shore, a peninsula framed by Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Its gull and geese populations have been fingered as possible carriers of salmonella, as have chicken farms and processors to the north.

Whatever the reason, surface water and sediment in the area appear to be “long-term reservoirs of persistent and endemic contamination of this environment,” according to a study published last year in Frontiers in Microbiology.

The largest U.S. foodborne incident in 2015 was a Salmonella Poona outbreak that sickened 888 people nationwide, killing six. That outbreak included 43 illnesses in Minnesota, though no deaths.

The culprit: cucumbers imported from Mexico. It was the third significant U.S. outbreak of salmonella linked to cucumbers in three years.

2 sickened with Salmonella: Not so much a Garden of Life

Posted on February 1, 2016 by Douglas Powell

State health and agriculture officials are investigating an outbreak of foodborne illness associated with eating “Garden of Life Organic Shake & Meal Replacement” in Minnesota and several other states.

Two cases of Salmonella Virchow infection with the same DNA fingerprint pattern have been reported to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) since Monday, January 11. One case was a child and one was an adult in his 30s. Neither was hospitalized, and both have recovered.

Since many cases of Salmonella infection (salmonellosis) do not seek health care and get tested, the number of ill people that are part of this outbreak is likely to be larger than the identified cases. Consequently, health officials want to bring this outbreak to the attention of people who have become ill with symptoms of salmonellosis but who have not yet consulted a health care provider. These people should mention this outbreak to their health care provider should they consult one.

Several matching Salmonella Virchow cases in other states have reported eating this product, which is a powdered nutritional supplement and meal replacement. These states include Wisconsin, Tennessee, Oregon, New Jersey, New Mexico and Utah. Most of these states have reported single cases.

New strain of Norovirus hits Minnesota

Posted on December 22, 2015 by Douglas Powell

A new strain of norovirus, the most common cause of sudden intestinal illness, has shown up in Minnesota, and that could mean more norovirus illnesses this winter, state health officials warned today.

The new strain, called GII.17 Kawasaki, caused many outbreaks in Asia last winter before arriving in the U.S. MDH has investigated more than 20 outbreaks caused by norovirus since the beginning of September. The new strain first showed up in sporadic cases in the state earlier this year and the first outbreak caused by the new strain was reported last week. Reports of norovirus-like illnesses in the community have also increased in the past week.

“Every few years, a new strain of norovirus emerges and causes many illnesses. We don’t know yet if this new strain will lead to an increase in the number of outbreaks reported, but it could,” said Amy Saupe, a foodborne disease epidemiologist at the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). “If we’re meticulous about washing our hands and handling food properly, we may be able to limit the impact.”

Illness caused by norovirus is often mistakenly called “stomach flu,” which is a confusing term because norovirus is not related to influenza. Influenza is a respiratory illness, with symptoms that include high fever, chills, body aches, sneezing, runny nose, sore throat, and/or coughing. Norovirus is not a respiratory illness, and is not spread through breathing or coughing.

“When people say that they have ‘stomach flu,’ referring to a short illness with diarrhea and/or vomiting, what they generally have is a norovirus infection,” said Saupe.

Norovirus can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, headache, body aches, a general run-down feeling, and a mild fever. Symptoms typically begin 24 to 48 hours after swallowing the virus, and usually last one to two days. The virus passes from one person to another by the fecal-oral route. That means the virus comes from the feces or vomit of people who are sick or were recently sick, and can make someone else sick if they get the virus in their mouth and swallow it. A tiny amount of virus can make someone sick.

d”Fecal-oral transmission sounds gross, but it’s important for people to understand that they may have gotten their norovirus from food, and that they could pass the virus to others by handling food, even after their symptoms are gone,” Saupe said.

Norovirus is the most common cause of food-related illness in Minnesota. In a recent outbreak example, employees who had been sick with diarrhea prepared food items that were eaten by restaurant patrons and at least 25 patrons became ill from norovirus.

The majority of norovirus illnesses and outbreaks can be prevented through good handwashing and appropriate food handling. Always wash your hands well before preparing food, and do not prepare food for others (at home or for your job) at all if you have been sick with vomiting or diarrhea in the last three days. If you are sick with vomiting or diarrhea, wash your hands very carefully after using the restroom. Norovirus can be present in your stool for several days even after you are feeling better, so continue to be extra careful about handwashing.

Always wash your hands before eating. Do not eat food prepared by someone who is ill with vomiting or diarrhea. If someone in your household is sick with vomiting or diarrhea, have them use a separate bathroom, if possible. Clean surfaces with soap and water and sanitize with a bleach solution to kill any norovirus that was spread to bathroom or kitchen surfaces. Launder soiled clothing in hot water promptly. Wash your hands after helping children in the bathroom or touching surfaces that may have vomit or feces on them.

Thorough handwashing includes washing your hands with soap for at least 20 seconds, rinsing under running water, and drying with a towel.

64 sick: Tomatoes fingered as Salmonella source in Minnesota Chipotle outbreak

Posted on September 17, 2015 by Douglas Powell

As the number of Americans sick from Salmonella linked to Mexican cucumbers reached 418, tomatoes have been identified as the source of a Salmonella outbreak linked to Chipotle restaurants in Minnesota.

So much for the wife’s tomato and cucumber salad, with olive oil and salt.

The Minnesota Department of Health reports tomatoes have been identified as the source of the Salmonella Newport outbreak that has sickened dozens of people who ate at Chipotle restaurants in Minnesota since late August. Investigators are working with state and federal partners to trace the tomatoes back to the farm of origin.

Since the outbreak was reported last week, additional illnesses have been confirmed by MDH. A total of 64 cases and 22 locations now have been linked to the outbreak [locations are listed below]. Nine people have been hospitalized; all are recovering. Meal dates for the cases range from August 16 to August 28 and people became ill between August 19 and September 3. The cases range in age from 10 to 69 years and are from 13 metro counties and several greater Minnesota counties.

“We expected to see additional cases because 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,” said MDH Epidemiologist Dana Eikmeier. “However, there is no longer a risk of Salmonella from this particular product at Chipotle.” The company has switched suppliers for its tomatoes and implicated product was removed from stores.

45 sick: Health officials investigating Salmonella cases linked to Chipotle restaurants in Minnesota

Posted on September 12, 2015 by Douglas Powell

Must suck to be a Chipotle right now in the U.S.: About 100 customers and staff sick from Norovirus at a California oultlet, and now 45 sick with Salmonella linked to several Minnesota-area Chipotle’s.

Forty-five (45) cases of Salmonella Newport infection have been reported to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) since Wednesday, Sept. 2. Since many cases of salmonellosis do not seek health care and get tested, the number of ill people that are part of this outbreak is likely to be larger than the identified number of cases. Consequently, health officials want to bring this outbreak to the attention of people who have become ill with symptoms of salmonellosis but who have not yet consulted a health care provider. These people should mention this outbreak to their health care provider should they consult one.

The investigation to date has found that the 45 cases were all infected with Salmonella Newport bacteria that have matching or very similar DNA fingerprints. Of the 34 people who have been interviewed to date, 32 ate or likely ate at 17 different Chipotle restaurant locations. Most of the restaurant locations are in the Twin Cities metro area, with one in St. Cloud and one in Rochester. Their meal dates range from Aug. 16 to Aug. 26 and they became ill between Aug. 20 and Aug. 29.

The Minnesota cases range in age from 15 to 67 years and are from eight metro and greater Minnesota counties; 56 percent are male. Five cases have been hospitalized; all are recovering.

Investigators from MDH and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture are working on identifying a specific food item source of the outbreak; in the meantime, Chipotle has changed the source of the suspect produce item under investigation. Between Aug. 16 and Aug. 26, Chipotle served more than 560,000 customers in Minnesota and has taken every appropriate measure to ensure that it is safe to eat in its restaurants. Investigators are confident that ongoing transmission at Chipotle as part of this outbreak has ended.

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