Whole Foods' Hepatitis A Outbreak And Other Past Food Scares

Déjà vu was the feeling as news broke out about Hepatitis A scare at supermarket chain Whole Foods Market, Inc. WFM.

Whole Foods' shares were down on Friday after the Detroit health department revealed that an employee at the company's prepared foods section and a customer who ate from the section were diagnosed with Hepatitis A.

Hepatitis A develops from ingesting contaminated food or drink, with the Hepatitis A virus being the causative factor.

Not long ago, in September 2015, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. CMG faced a crisis, as salmonella outbreak was traced to tomatoes at it Minnesota restaurants. Close on its heels, the beleaguered company was forced to shutter 43 restaurants in Washington and Oregon following an E.Coli outbreak. The E.coli outbreak was reported in three new states in November.

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In December, the company warned of negative fourth-quarter comps and an uncertain outlook for 2016.

Since the first outbreak, shares of Chipotle have slumped by about 45 percent— a heavy price to pay for not adhering to food safety measures.

Past Food Scares

• An E.coli contamination in its frozen hamburger in 2007 put Topps Meat Company out of business: a tough penalty for a company that had been around for 67 years.
• Peanut butter contaminated with salmonella in 2008 led to a large scale recall. Peanut butter sales fell by a quarter and the total hit to the industry was estimated at $1 billion. Peanut Corp. of America, the company behind it, was forced to go out of business.

At last check, shares of Whole Foods Marker were down 0.71 percent at $28.09.

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