Chipotle pulls jalapeños from restaurants over salmonella concerns

Chipotle Mexican Grill said Tuesday that it had removed jalapeños from its restaurants after the spicy peppers were linked to a salmonella outbreak in Minnesota that sickened more than 100 people.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the restaurant chain confirmed it was cooperating with a public health investigation, identifying jalapeños from one common lot as a potential source of contamination.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we proactively removed the jalapeños from our restaurants and replaced them with product from different growers,” the company said.

Chipotle did not specify which grower had provided the removed peppers, USA Today reported.

The restaurant’s actions were first reported by Bloomberg, which said the chain was working with the Minnesota health department.

On Tuesday, the Minnesota Department of Health confirmed that it was investigating a salmonella outbreak tied to several Mexican-style, quick-service restaurants, The Associated Press reported. Officials said that jalapeños was the suspected source.

State health officials identified 110 cases in Minnesota, with Chipotle making up the majority of cases, according to the news organization.

Carlota Medus, senior epidemiologist supervisor in the Minnesota Department of Health Foodborne Diseases Unit, told USA Today in a statement that 89% of people interviewed reported eating at Chipotle before getting sick.

While Chipotle was the first restaurant named, investigators believe the spread has impacted other businesses and other states.

Chipotle said that the outbreak was “impacting several food service retailers.” Medus added that it was associated with “Mexican-style quick-service restaurants,” USA Today reported.

According to the AP, Medus said Chipotle had been cooperative during the investigation, and that she was not concerned about the restaurant chain since it had immediately put measures in place.

However, she said it was “too soon for us to know if the outbreak is ongoing” and that it was possible contaminated food is being served elsewhere.

“The cases that reported not eating at Chipotle ate at a variety of other Mexican-style restaurants,” Medus said. “Other states are contributing to the investigation. Based on all the evidence so far, the food that made people sick was served at other restaurants as well.

“We do expect the case count to increase even if the illnesses occurred a couple of weeks ago, since it takes us a while to detect cases in surveillance.”

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration has not issued a recall or health alert, but officials said they are monitoring the situation.

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