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Chipotle Closed Monday Morning, Workers Get Food Safety Lecture

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - If you were planning on getting lunch at a Chipotle Mexican Grill today, you better have a plan B.

On Monday, February 8th, all Chipotle Mexican Grills nationwide will be closed until 3 p.m. so workers can participate in a company-wide meeting on food safety.

The meeting comes in light of bacterial outbreaks in several states around the U.S.

Last October, an E. coli outbreak at the chain's restaurants sickened people in 11 states. Then in December, a norovirus outbreak at a Boston location heightened customer fears about the safety of the chain's food.

To re-assure customers that their food was safe, the company announced a series of new food safety measures, such as blanching onions before chopping them and stepped up testing of ingredients.

The Denver based company noted a 36-percent drop in sales last month at established locations. That follows a previously reported drop of 14.6 percent for the October-to-December period, which marked the first quarterly decline since Chipotle went public a decade ago.

(TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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