Twin Cities woman sues Chipotle over salmonella poisoning
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A woman who suffered salmonella poisoning after eating takeout from a Twin Cities Chipotle is suing the restaurant chain.
According to her civil complaint filed Wednesday, Kristen Behne ordered a chicken burrito bowl from the Chipotle location in Roseville on June 24.
Three days later Behne lost consciousness, her temperature rose to 102 degrees Fahrenheit, her heart rate skyrocketed to 145 beats per minute, and she suffered severe diarrhea.
“She was very, very sick. Dehydration and the toll that salmonella takes on the body can be very serious,” Behne’s attorney Lindsay Lien said in an interview Thursday. “When bacteria gets in the bloodstream, complications can be serious and sometimes fatal.”
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“These sort of infections take a long time for people to recover from, and so she’s working through that,” Lien said.
Behne, 28, was hospitalized for two days, and doctors diagnosed her with sepsis and an inflamed colon. She received two liters of intravenous fluid and was treated with the antibiotic ciprofloxacin.
The Minnesota Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention traced the salmonella bacteria that Behne ingested to jalapeño peppers in Chipotle's salsa.
Health officials have identified at least 110 cases in Minnesota and connected the majority to Chipotle. MDH has said that Chipotle has been cooperative with the investigation.
The CDC said Tuesday that the outbreak has infected 345 people in 27 states. Three dozen people were hospitalized. No deaths were reported.
The restaurant chain has said that it removed the jalapeños linked to the outbreak. MPR News requested comment from Chipotle on Behne’s lawsuit.
