Companies pay for food safety transgressions in a variety of ways. Victims sue for damages, and regulators take civil, and sometimes criminal, actions. For publicly traded companies, nothing churns their executive stomach acid more than waiting to see if the stock price will come back. For Chipotle Mexican Grill, analysts are telling investors to expect more volatile days including those like yesterday, when CMG (NYSE) fell another 6 percent to $574.66. In total, the once- high-flying, Denver-based fast-casual restaurant chain is off $157.42 per share, down 21.49 percent since shortly before announcing that it was closing 43 stores in Oregon and Washington state following an E. coli outbreak. Put another way, the food safety scare has occurred during a time when Chipotle has seen about $2 billion scraped off its market value, which still stands at a stunning $17.9 billion. On paper, at least, it means Chipotle “insiders,” or corporate officials, have lost almost $80 million since the 43 restaurant closures. Chipotle experienced most of the drop during November, but day-to-day volatility has continued, including yesterday’s dive. Analysts have taken to comparing Chipotle’s crisis to past food poisoning incidents involving either fast-food or fast-casual outlets. A Motley Fool analyst compared Chipotle’s current situation to past events involving Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Wendy’s and Taco Bell. In those instances, the food-related scandals did some damage, but they “played out quickly.” “The popular fast casual Mexican chain is and will continue to take a hit in both its stock price and its sales, but the impact will be temporary as long as the company gets the problem under control,” wrote analyst Daniel B. Kline for Motley Fool. Steve Ellis, Chipotle’s founder, chairman, and co-chief executive officer, will have the opportunity to talk up his company’s floundering stock price on Tuesday at the Second Annual Bernstein Consumer Summit in New York City. His 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time presentation for analysts and investors will be webcast live from the investor relation section of Chipotle’s corporate website. Look for Ellis to talk about stricter guidelines for the restaurant chains produce suppliers, a change that could mean less reliance on locally grown produce. USA Today reported on some of those plans on Wednesday, Dec. 2. Uncertainty may be hurting Chipotle. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) last report on the six-state outbreak was issued Nov. 20. At that time, 17 Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurants were linked to sickening 45 people. The illnesses were found in California (2), Minnesota (2), New York (1), Ohio (1), Oregon (13) and Washington state (26). Sixteen of those victims were hospitalized, but no hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) cases or deaths have been reported. CDC said epidemiological evidence suggests a common meal or ingredient as the probable source, but nothing definite has yet been shared with the public. In addition to no definite source yet being named, the number sickened in the outbreak has also bounced around. It was  once reported as 50 before being reduced to 37, and then investigators settled on 45. The illness onset dates for the outbreak run from Oct. 19, 2015, to Nov. 8, 2015. Chipotle’s “Food With Integrity” theme, promoting its focus on certain fresh and local ingredients at its 1,900 restaurants, has helped build customer loyalty. Its high profile, however, may be hurting it now as the outbreak remains a hot discussion topic on social media. Chipotle gets credit for quick closures of restaurants in the Pacific Northwest, including many that were found not to be involved in the outbreak. All 43 outlets were subjected to deep cleaning and change out of ingredients and food preparation procedures. The company also conducted health checks of employees and found none with E. coli infections. Eventually, the Chipotle restaurants involved in the outbreak were narrowed down to this list: 3090 Countryside Dr. in Turlock, CA; at 728 County Rd. in Burnhaven, MN; 1643 Niagara Falls Blvd. in Amherst, New York; 24369 Cedar Rd. in Lyndhurst – Legacy Village, OH; 7683 W. Ridgewood Dr. in Parma, OH, and 3890 Medina Rd. in Akron, OH. The involved Oregon restaurants are located at 2065 N.E. Burnside Rd. in Gresham; 12130 S.E. 82nd Ave., Clackamas Town Center, in Happy Valley; 2048 N.W. Stucki Ave. in Hillsboro; 8 Centrepoint Dr. (Kruse Way) in Lake Oswego; 9687 N.E. Cascades Pkwy. in Portland, and 9120 S.W. Hall Blvd., Washington Square, in Portland. Chipotle’s Washington state outbreak restaurants are located at 1753 Burlington Blvd. in Burlington; 512 Ramsay Way, Suite 101, in Kent; 1415 Broadway Ave., Capitol Hill, in Seattle; 4229 University Way N.E. in Seattle, and 7715 N.E. 5th Ave. in Vancouver. (To sign up for a free subscription to Food Safety News, click here.)