Chipotle served with a federal subpoena for novovirus outbreak

NEW YORK (AP) — Chipotle has been served with a federal subpoena as part of a criminal investigation tied to a norovirus outbreak at one of its restaurants.

The subpoena, received last month, requires Chipotle to produce a broad range of documents tied to a restaurant in Simi Valley, Calif., tied to norovirus outbreak this past August, the company said.

The investigation is being conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California in conjunction with the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations, Chipotle said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission today.

The disclosure comes as Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. reels from an E. coli outbreak linked to its restaurants in late October and November. That was followed by a separate norovirus outbreak at a restaurant in Boston. The cases received far more national media attention than the norovirus outbreak in California and the company has seen sales slump.

Sales plunged 30 percent at established locations in December, Chipotle said.