Rotisserie Chicken Salad Likely the Source of E. coli Outbreak: CDC

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Tuesday that Rotisserie chicken salad sold at Costco Wholesale Corp. is most likely to be the major source of E. coli outbreak.

The CDC said that five people out of the total number of infected people were hospitalized and two of them developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a type of kidney failure.

Craig Wilson, Costco’s vice president responsible for food safety, said in a statement that they removed the product from the stores as soon as they were informed by the CDC about the issue on Friday. He also said that the company has been helping in the investigation into the issue.

Another recent food borne illness due to E. coli is linked to Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., ranging from the Pacific Northwest other states, the CDC said on Friday. This outbreak even led to the closure of the some Chipotle restaurants in the Northwest.

Chipotle said after the news of the outbreak, it has conducted deep cleaning at the restaurants that have been linked to the incident. It has even replaced ingredients in those restaurants and changed food-preparation procedures.

The CDC said in a statement that the products of Costco that are under investigation are labeled ‘Chicken Salad made with Rotisserie Chicken’ and have an item number 37719.

On Friday, Costco told the public health officials that it removed all remaining rotisserie chicken salad from stores and has also stopped further production of the infected item.