Chipotle's Little E. Coli Problem Might Finally Be Over

Chipotle for lunch, anyone?

Not Available Lead
Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Not Available Lead

After months of struggle and near-blasphemous levels of anti-Chipotle rhetoric, the notorious burrito chain may be nearing a bit of a comeback. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is expected to announce that the E. coli outbreak that directly impacted your lunch plans "is over," the Wall Street Journal reports. However, government officials still remain uncertain as to what exactly caused the bummer-inducing outbreak.

The announcement is expected to come "as early as Monday" and has already positively influenced premarket trading, according to CNN. Chiptole will also reveal its fourth quarter sales report later this week, with Wall Street experts bracing for some predictably awful results. In fact, current projections place Chipotle's fourth quarter haul as down 6 percent with a current trading average that's a full 40 percent below last year's all-time high.

In addition to an estimated 53 E. coli cases, the restaurant chain was hit with a record-breaking norovirus outbreak that infected "up to 141 people" in Boston. According to Fortune, Chipotle is expected to spend the coming days hitting America in the only way truly plausible: more ads.

Still, the question remains: What's everyone doing for lunch?

Latest in Life