The article kind-of mentions it, but if I'm reading what they're saying right, Chipotle served 1.5 million people per day before the outbreak. 265k people get E. Coli annually, and that's about 0.08% of the US population. 0.08% of 1.5 million is a little over 1000.
So 500 confirmed cases of E. Coli linked to Chipotle over the course of a year is actually better than the national average?
The fact is we haven't figured out how to stop E. Coli. Some amount of cross-contamination is going to happen. (Especially when you have animal products mixing with vegetables.) Yes, there was a real contamination event at Chipotle. What I'm asking is if we have scientific evidence that Chipotle was negligent in any way, and from everything I've read the answer is no, there is no process Chipotle could have followed to avoid this problem. Some have suggested that their use of organic and non-GMO ingredients contributed to the issue, but that's a scientific claim and I'd love to see some evidence.
If you have data that suggest otherwise, I'd love to see it.
Organic produce is more likely to be contaminated with E. Coli since they will use compost and manure instead of "chemical fertilizers" unless the organic farmers are specifically regulated to handle manure with a process that will make it safer.
Raw manure is banned for good reasons in most countries, in some countries it's also specifically banned for organic produce.
So 500 confirmed cases of E. Coli linked to Chipotle over the course of a year is actually better than the national average?