Chipotle Mexican Grill is blaming sick employees for the two norovirus outbreaks that the restaurant chain experienced last year.

The company closed stores for a few hours on Feb. 8 for a national team meeting to discuss proper health and safety protocol. Chipotle revealed that tomatoes were the likely culprit behind the salmonella outbreak in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

"That's one of the reasons why we no longer dice tomatoes in our restaurants," the company said in a statement Monday.

However, after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ended its investigation last week, representatives for the fast-casual chain are still uncertain of which ingredient cause the E. coli outbreaks.

