At least eight people were sickened after eating sandwiches at Denver-area Jimmy John's that were contaminated with E. Coli bacteria.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, the Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration are all investigating the outbreak, which has been positively linked to three restaurants in Colorado's Denver-metro area. But none of the restaurants are being closed, nor are they being publicly identified because the restaurants are not believed to be at fault.
"Our leading hypothesis for what's happened is that there was a contaminated produce item that was distributed to the stores," Alicia Cronquit, an epidemiologist with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment told KDVR. "We have not identified any food handling issues at the particular establishments that we think would contribute to illness."
According to a 9News report, the people who got sick ate at the Jimmy John's locations between Oct. 5 and 9 and began showing symptoms for E. Coli just days later. Additional cases of illness are being investigated for possible links to outbreak, including the case of one person who was hospitalized.
Symptoms of E. Coli can include bloody diarrhea, severe stomach cramps and vomiting.
The FDA is currently conducting tests to see where the contaminated produce came from.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment says that the restaurant is cooperating with the investigation.
To see a list of all the latest food-related recalls, head over to the United States Department of Agriculture's food safety and inspection service.
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