Flood of New Illness Reports Hit Chipotle

Food safety concerns are once again plaguing Chipotle: Consumer complaints filed on IWasPoisoned.com—a website that tracks possible food poisoning cases and helped reveal a 2015 E. coli outbreak at Chipotle locations—suggest close to 200 people have fallen ill after eating at a Ohio restaurant, per Business Insider. The location at 9733 Sawmill Parkway in the Columbus suburb of Powell closed Monday based on "a few reports of illness," with a rep noting "we are not aware of any confirmed foodborne illness cases," reports the Columbus Dispatch. The number of reports has since ballooned to 182 as of this writing, with most describing multiple people with nausea and diarrhea.

In one case, a family of six, including four kids ages 1 to 8, describes coming down with food poisoning symptoms after "celebrating completion of the summer reading program with the coupons provided as prizes." Per the Dispatch, a Thursday health inspection at the location found pinto and black beans weren't kept at a high-enough temperature, while lettuce wasn't appropriately chilled. The inspection report noted both issues were corrected the same day, though Chipotle, whose shares fell more than 3% in after-hours trading Monday, says it's doing a deep cleaning of the restaurant anyway. Still have an appetite? You can add guacamole to your Chipotle order for free Tuesday in honor of National Avocado Day, People reports. (More Chipotle stories.)