Chipotle Says No Link to ‘Supergirl’ Actor’s Illness

By Craig Giammona | November 13, 2017

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. said there’s no connection between the company and an illness suffered by “Supergirl” actor Jeremy Jordan, who blamed the burrito chain for making him severely sick.

“There is not a link and there are no other reports of illness at the restaurant,” Quinn Kelsey, a spokeswoman for the Denver-based company, said in an email. The location – in Houston – hasn’t been closed, she said.

The incident threatens to renew concerns about food safety at Chipotle, which has struggled to bounce back from an E. coli crisis in 2015 that sickened customers. Jordan said last week that he was hospitalized after eating at the chain.

The actor, who plays Winn Schott on “Supergirl,” posted an Instagram story on Thursday from his hospital bed, saying that “the food did not agree with me and I almost died,” according to People.

The celebrity’s complaint sent Chipotle shares tumbling in early trading on Monday, extending a rout this year. Chipotle’s denial of a link prompted a brief recovery for the stock, but the rebound was quickly erased in regular trading.

The shares fell as much as 5.9 percent to $263, bringing them to the lowest level in almost five years. They had already declined 26 percent in 2017 through the end of last week.

The company said on Monday morning that it had reached the actor to determine where and when he ate, Kelsey said.

“We were able to confirm that there were no reports of illness, all employees were healthy, and that all food protocols were followed and logged,” she said. “We take all claims seriously, but we can’t confirm any link to Chipotle given the details he shared with us.”

The company had begun to restore its reputation in the past year, but a norovirus incident in Virginia and a viral video of mice at a Dallas location sparked a fresh round of negative headlines.

Chipotle also suffered a data breach earlier this year, an incident that hurt its earnings and contributed to another stock slump. This year’s hurricanes rocked Chipotle as well: It had 425 restaurants in the direct path of the storms.

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