Bacteria and virus outbreaks at Chipotle restaurants call food safety at the popular eatery into question

Outbreaks of E. Coli, salmonella and norovirus in Chipotle restaurants across the country have prompted mass closings and questions from consumers and investors.

Company executives have outlined steps that a food safety expert and lawyer representing 72 people sickened from eating at Chipotle told the Daily News could transform it into a model of food safety. The popular Mexican chain won’t wrap up a definitive "yes" answer as to whether it's safe to eat there unless it backs up its talk, though.

 “I’ve been doing this since the Jack in the Box outbreak of 1993 and the number of possible cases in such a short period of time is something I’ve never really seen before,” said William Marler of the Seattle-based Marler Clark LLP.