Minnesota woman sues Chipotle over salmonella-linked jalapeño peppers

A Minnesota woman who was hospitalized with sepsis after eating a chicken burrito bowl at a Chipotle restaurant in Roseville has filed a lawsuit against the chain, claiming the meal contained salmonella-contaminated jalapeño peppers. The complaint says she fell ill three days after the June 24 meal, was hospitalized with a 102-degree fever, and was discharged on June 30 but has not fully recovered. Genetic testing linked her infection to a multistate outbreak that public health officials have tied to a single lot of jalapeños, prompting Chipotle to remove the peppers from its restaurants in early August.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Minnesota, seeks more than $75,000 in damages and argues that Chipotle should have anticipated the risk, citing previous food-borne illness incidents involving the chain, including a 2015 salmonella outbreak in Minnesota and a 2020 criminal fine of $25 million for earlier outbreaks.

Minneapolis attorney Ryan Osterholm, representing the plaintiff, said Minnesota appears to have been disproportionately affected and noted that many hospitalized patients have reported severe illness. He added that the case could lead to punitive damages pending further discovery.

Chipotle’s chief of corporate affairs and food safety officer Laurie Schalow said the company has a robust ingredient traceability system and, after identifying jalapeños from a specific grower in Sinaloa, Mexico, proactively removed them and replaced them with product from other growers. She said the CDC and FDA have indicated there is no ongoing risk from Chipotle restaurants.

Public health officials have linked at least 110 illnesses in Minnesota and 212 nationwide to the outbreak, with the CDC reporting 345 cases across 27 states and 36 hospitalizations as of Wednesday. Food-safety experts noted that contamination often originates at the farm level, emphasizing the importance of traceability and water-source monitoring.