Chipotle pulls jalapeños after salmonella cases linked to Minnesota outbreak

Chipotle Mexican Grill announced on Tuesday that it has withdrawn specific jalapeños from all locations where the product was distributed and is replacing them with peppers from other growers. The move follows a salmonella outbreak in Minnesota that health officials say has resulted in 110 confirmed cases, with 75 patients reporting recent visits to Chipotle between June 14 and July 14.

Laurie Schalow, Chipotle's chief corporate affairs and food safety officer, said the company's ingredient traceability system allowed it to identify the jalapeños as a potential common source. "Chipotle has removed the suspect jalapeños across all of our restaurants where they had been distributed and replaced them with jalapeños from different growers," the company said.

Minnesota Department of Health officials noted that additional cases may be linked to other Mexican-style restaurants, and the Food and Drug Administration has opened an investigation into Salmonella Javiana, which could involve more than 200 cases. The agency has begun sampling but has not issued a recall.

Carlota Medus, a senior official in Minnesota's foodborne diseases unit, said it is too early to determine whether the outbreak is still active, but the steps taken by Chipotle reduce concern about the chain. She added that case numbers are expected to rise as surveillance catches earlier illnesses.

Chipotle, which faced a major e. coli outbreak in 2015 that affected its reputation and finances, has been working to restore consumer confidence through new marketing efforts since 2016.