“Day after day we’re committed” and “food with integrity.” These are the two statements made and promised by the popular Mexican Grill called “Chipotle.” There are currently 1,200 Chipotle store locations spread across America, and they have a revenue of 4.4 billion dollars as of 2015. This makes Chipotle a powerhouse of the fast-food industry: healthy, yet quickly obtainable and inexpensive.

Recently, 40 Chipotle customers ate Chipotle’s “Integral” food but, unfortunately, caught the deadly E. coli strain. E. coli is a bacteria found commonly in the lower intestines of warm-blooded animals. While most E. coli strains are harmless, the strain called Escherichia coli is the one found in a produce used at Chipotle. Getting this strain results in extreme food poisoning, acute kidney failure and, sometimes, death.

The stores affected by this bacteria are in the Pacific Northwest, centralized in the Washington and Oregon area.
After it struck customers, Chipotle closed all of their store locations in Oregon and Washington for the safety of their customers, to find out the source and what food was contaminated by it, so they can fix the problem head on.
“I think it’s sad. Chipotle served great food and it’s the healthiest fast food there is. For them to shut some of them down is so sad,” Junior Sydney Stiger said.

Before the stores in Washington and Oregon can reopen, there will be conditions: get rid of and replace all produce, do a deep cleaning of the store, pass a new health inspection and start a new protocol for cleaning produce. So many steps are involved in the process of opening the store again, but measures must be as extreme and as serious as the strain itself.

A lot of people who don’t live in the Pacific Northwest don’t have a problem going to Chipotle, while maybe others still feel hesitant even though they aren’t in the area Affected.

“It personally will not render me from going because the incident happened in the Northwest, and I only go occasionally,” Senior Nathaniel Wilson said.

“I don’t have a problem going to Chipotle even after all of this because I’m sure they probably tested our area, and if they didn’t close them, then I guess we are fine,” Stiger said.

Since the outbreak, the Oregon Health Authority has been trying to find the source of the E. coli strain.
“Finding the source of the outbreak is often like finding a needle in the haystack,” Jonathan Modie, spokesman for the Oregon Health Authority, said.

Currently, the Washington Health state officials have not been able to find the source of the E. coli breakout, and the stores can open up as early as the week of Nov. 9.