More than 600 people sick after eating at one Chipotle

Ohio health officials say more than 600 people became ill after eating at a Chipotle restaurant near Columbus during the last week of July.

The Delaware General Health District, named for the surrounding county, said it had identified 624 people who ate at a Chipotle in Powell between July 26 and July 30 and self-reported gastrointestinal symptoms.

At least two people, Filip Szyller and Clayton Jones, are suing the food chain after becoming ill. In his complaint, Jones said he purchased a burrito bowl at the store July 27 and became sick the next day. He was treated by a primary care physician, the complaint says. Szyller purchased three tacos at Chipotle on July 29 and was sick by the next day, his complaint says.

Chipotle said it voluntarily closed the store last week for 24 hours after the period the illnesses were reported, replacing all of its food and cleaning and sanitizing the restaurant.

“The health of our guests and employees is out top priority,” spokeswoman Laurie Schalow said in a statement. She declined to comment on the lawsuits.

There have been no incidences of illness reported at the eatery since its reopening, the Health District said in a statement.

Ron Simon, the lawyer who is representing Szyller and Jones, said his firm had been contacted by more than 100 people who had been sick, including some who were hospitalized, and he expected to be filing more lawsuits soon.

“These lawsuits will force Chipotle to change its ways and make its food safer for everyone not just in Powell, Ohio, but across the United States,” he said in a statement.

Szyller and Jones are seeking damages of at least $25,000 each.

Sheila Hiddleson, the health commissioner from the county, said in an email that the county was awaiting lab results to determine the cause of the sicknesses.

The Dayton Daily News reported that tests have come back negative for salmonella, shigella, E. coli and norovirus.

Chipotle has had highprofile issues with food safety before. A federal inquiry examined the Denver-based chain’s food safety practices in 2015 after 207 people became ill with norovirus after eating at an outpost in California. As reported by The Washington Post, outbreaks of E. coli, salmonella and norovirus prompted it to close more than 2,000 locations for food safety training in February 2016.

A string of food-borne illnesses have been reported across the United States in recent months. Salmonella illness outbreaks have been linked to raw turkey, pasta salad, Kellogg’s Honey Smacks cereal and precut melon. A parasite was linked to McDonald’s salads. Romaine lettuce was determined to be contaminated with E. coli. Fresh crab meat from Venezuela was deemed a risk after vibrio parahaemolyticus sickened 12 people in three states and the District of Columbia.

Certain types of Ritz crackers were recalled in July over concerns that those, too, may have been contaminated by salmonella-tainted whey powder, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Later in the month, Pepperidge Farm recalled Goldfish crackers.