Taco Bell, the popular fast-food chain, has removed food from some stores as a precautionary measure in response to the rapidly spreading gastrointestinal disease cystosporosis, which has infected thousands of people in more than 30 states.
Taco Bell announced that it has “voluntarily and temporarily removed limited ingredients” from some restaurants. The fast food chain added that public health officials “have not confirmed any association with Taco Bell or any specific ingredients, suppliers, restaurants or retailers.”
As Cystosis spreads and Taco Bell withdraws some ingredients in alarm, I can’t help but think of other restaurants that may be at risk. Chipotle’s stock price fell nearly 5% on Wednesday, July 15, even though the Chipotle chain had no connection to the cross-spoliaemia outbreak.
Chipotle officials said they do not believe Chipotle’s ingredients have been affected by the outbreak of cyclosporiasis, a disease that causes abdominal pain that can cause explosive, watery diarrhea and other gastrointestinal symptoms.
“We are aware of the Cyclospora investigation and do not believe the ingredients we source are involved at this time,” Chipotle Chief Executive Officer and Food Safety Officer Lori Shallow said in a statement. “We are closely monitoring the situation and evaluating new information as it becomes available. The health and safety of our guests and team members is our top priority.”
Food safety breaches can quickly turn consumers and investors in brands and restaurants into discontent, experts say.
“Food safety continues to be a top priority for the American people,” said Maria Helen Karaisandonakes, assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Chipotle stock fell Wednesday
Ten years ago, Chipotle was hit financially by multiple bouts of food poisoning.
A 2024 paper co-authored by researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Purdue University tracked the economic impact after these events.
The paper tracks eight outbreaks at Chipotle from 2015 to 2018, including outbreaks within a single state and outbreaks involving multiple states. The paper concluded that restaurants that withstood a single outbreak involving multiple states could come under increased scrutiny in subsequent outbreaks, even if they were contained to a single state.
“Foodborne illness outbreaks, or even rumors of outbreaks, can be costly for restaurant companies and lead to decreased brand trust and sales,” said Karaisandonakes, co-author of the 2024 paper. “Outbreaks are costly for many other reasons as well, including litigation.”
According to the paper, about 60% of food poisoning outbreaks occur at restaurants. The majority (97%) are within one state, but cases in multiple states receive widespread media attention.
That’s what happened at Chipotle, the paper said. The Chipotle outbreak, which was confined to a single state, received little attention and had no financial impact until the chain spread to multiple states and was widely reported in the media. Since then, “even single-state events have generated national media coverage and significant financial impact,” the paper said.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said testing and other evidence shows crosspoliiasis cases in Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky are likely related.
As of July 13, there have been 1,645 confirmed cases of cyclosporiasis, and more than 5,100 additional cases are under investigation, according to CDC data. Thirty-four states have reported cases or suspected cases, CDC officials said.
