Chipotle Says More Cases May Be Reported in E. Coli Outbreak

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had said Friday that seven additional people were sickened, including in three more states — Illinois, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

"While Chipotle's food safety practices were already well within industry norms, I was asked to design a more robust food safety program to ensure the highest level of safety and the best quality of all meals served at Chipotle", said Mansour Samadpour, Ph.D., CEO of IEH Laboratories and Consulting Group.

The outbreak has expanded to nine states, with a total of 52 reported illnesses.

In all, 52 people have become ill, majority reported eating food from Chipotle within the week before their symptoms began.

The company temporarily shuttered restaurants in OR and Washington - where most of the cases were concentrated - while it investigated the matter and health officials reviewed the situation.

The other states affected by the disease are California, Minnesota, New York and Ohio. The new cases also extends the period during which people reported getting sick from - it is now October 19 to November 13, a few days longer than in the last update, which ranged to November 8.

"It's a common misconception that hamburgers and chicken are the biggest threats when it comes to foodborne illness", said food safety attorney Bill Marler.

The ingredient responsible for the illnesses has not yet been determined.

"No ingredients that are likely to have been connected to this incident remain in Chipotle's restaurants or in its supply system", the company said in a statement Friday. Arnold said that was in part due to the fact that the local program had gone out of season (it runs from June to October for most of the U.S.) and because of the upcoming changes to its food safety procedures. That was up from the six states and 45 illnesses as of late November.

According to MarketBeat.com Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) still rates a buy, but those numbers are declining. They joined California, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Oregon and Washington. Authorities suspect that a fresh produce item is responsible.

The FDA warned that E-Coli "is a bacterium that causes a diarrheal illness often with bloody stools" and can cause kidney failure and even death in young children and the elderly.

Chipotle has tightened its food safety measures in response. Its share price is down 17 percent over the past year.