Salmonella Outbreak in Minnesota Linked to Chipotle Restaurants

Amanda Chan
·Deputy Editor

Chipotle restaurants in the Twin Cities seem to be linked with the outbreak. (Photo: Getty Images/Joe Raedle)

Forty-five cases of food poisoning from Salmonella have been linked with eating at Chipotle restaurants in Minnesota in August, health officials recently announced.

Even though the exact food item that is linked with the outbreak has yet to be identified, Chipotle has changed its sourcing for the produce item under investigation. “Chipotle has been extremely proactive in collaborating with investigators to quickly control the outbreak and identify its source,” Dana Eikmeier, epidemiologist for the Foodborne Diseases Unit of the Minnesota Department of Health, says in a statement.

The 45 people who fell ill were all infected with the Salmonella Newport bacteria; health officials say that there are likely more people who have been infected with the bacteria, but who haven’t reported it.

Related: Why Recent Food Poisoning Outbreaks All Began in This One State

Health officials have interviewed 34 of the 45 people, and 32 ate at or probably ate at one of 17 different Chipotle locations (mostly in the Twin Cities area) sometime between Aug. 16 and Aug. 26, and fell ill sometime between Aug. 20 and Aug. 29. The Chipotle locations that have been linked with the outbreak include:

  • 7 Corners (Minneapolis)

  • Bloomington

  • Calhoun

  • Crystal

  • Hopkins

  • Maple Grove

  • Maplewood

  • Minnetonka

  • Richfield

  • Ridgedale

  • Rochester

  • Shoreview

  • St. Cloud

  • St. Louis Park

  • St. Paul Lawson

  • Uptown

  • US Bank Plaza (Minneapolis)

Salmonella infection, or salmonellosis, causes symptoms of abdominal pain, diarrhea, and fever about 12 to 72 hours after exposure; for most people, it’s not dangerous, and resolve on their own in five to seven days. However, for people who are immunocompromised and for the elderly, infection can be dangerous, requiring hospitalization.

Cucumbers are also at the heart of another Salmonella outbreak that has so far left two dead and 341 sickened. That outbreak started in July, and the affected cucumbers — distributed by Andrew & Williamson Fresh Produce — are contaminated with Salmonella Poona bacteria. That outbreak affects at least 30 states.

Read This Next: Two People Dead as Cucumber Salmonella Outbreak Worsens