I take umbrage at The Malibu Times coverage of the Chipotle E. coli “outbreak.” Why is this being covered now, when the major outbreaks were in the late summer and autumn? Also, why couldn’t the Times have chosen a positive slant since as Malibu Chipotle and all of LA County escaped the incursions on other widely spaced cities? All Chipotle restaurants closed for safety checks were reopened in November.
The press has suggested that Chipotle was targeted by the biotech industry because of their self-proclaimed non-GMO status, and that is exactly why I go there myself — for a feeling of safety from harmful chemicals and the satisfaction of knowing that Chipotle supports non-harming methods of raising feedstock animals.
The CDC has admitted that some E. coli outbreaks involve a “rare DNA fingerprint of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O26” that is not normally seen in foods. Outbreaks have been linked to a plethora of different pathogens, including E. coli O157:H7, E. coli STEC 026, Salmonella, norovirus and possibly Hepatitis A. There are different causes at different outlets.
A Jan. 7 edition of Business Insider states, “Criminal investigations into foodborne-illness outbreaks are uncommon, and they typically indicate some suspicion of intent behind the food contamination, according to Mark Mansour, an attorney at Washington, D.C.-based Mayer Brown, who focuses on FDA regulatory matters.”
The entire Chipotle episode affected 53 people, all told. Foster Farms had a 17-month infestation involving 634 people. In 2010, there was an egg problem from Iowa factory farms wherein each barn held over 1,000 chickens. Thousands of people got sick and more than 500 million eggs had to be recalled. In 1985, 5,770 people got salmonella from 2% milk.
We see how the corporate press loves to inflate a drama. Our small paper in Malibu should not be following suit.
Beate Nilsen