First Chipotle restaurant to reopen in Seattle since Northwest E. coli outbreak

SEATTLE -- Chipotle says it's reopening the 43 restaurants it closed in the Pacific Northwest amid an E. coli outbreak that has sickened about 40 people.

A company spokesperson said the first store to reopen would be the Northgate Mall location in Seattle. It was scheduled to open around 1 p.m. Tuesday.

Health officials say they haven't determined a cause of the outbreak that started last month. Tests of food at the Mexican food chain have come back negative for E. coli, and officials have concluded there's no ongoing risk.

Chipotle said Tuesday that it's reopening the restaurants over the next few days after giving them a deep cleaning and ordering a fresh supply of ingredients.

The company says it tested the food prior to restocking and is instituting additional safety procedures in all of its 2,000 restaurants to ensure robust food safety standards.

The outbreak was traced to 11 Chipotle restaurants in Oregon and Washington, but the company closed 43 in the region as a precaution.