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Chipotle shares notice a 5% jump on Thursday soon after the founder apologized to its customers who became sick after eating at the restaurant. He vowed that stricter food-safety rules will be introduced that will prevent such outbreak incidents. "This was a very unfortunate incident and I'm deeply sorry that this happened, but the procedures we're putting in place today are so above industry norms that we are going to be the safest place to eat," founder and co-Chief Executive Officer Steve Ells said in an interview on NBC.

He made apologetic comments a day after local health officials pointed out that 80 people have become sickened due to the norovirus that is linked to Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. restaurant located in Boston. The Chipotle findings came after a series of E. coli infections were reported in recent months that made 52 people sick across 9 states in the US forcing the company to shut down some of its locations temporarily. On Thursday, the Chipotle shares went up again by 5.4% closing at $577.72 during midday trading. When asked about the financial recovery of Chipotle following the incident on NBC's program Today, Ells said "certainly". "We see value in shares from current levels for investors that can look through the potential near-term choppiness," William Blair analysts wrote in a research note.

Chipotle has been under inspection since November when the health officials found the link to E. Coli outbreaks with the company's food safety standards. The illness has jeopardized Chipotle's reputation that can hurt the loyalty that it has built over the years for its use of fresh produce and using meats without the antibiotics. The other Chipotle CEO, Monty Moran, in an investor conference call blamed the media for reporting the illness in an over-hyped manner. Ells adopted a more apologetic tone to pacify the issues, reports Reuters