Foodborne illness outbreaks have dominated the news in recent months: E. coli and norovirus at Chipotle, listeria in prepackaged Dole salad mixes, and salmonella in cucumbers. These outbreaks have sickened — and in some cases killed — consumers, and one food safety expert says that inadequate safety oversight is at least partly to blame. [More]
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To Make Up For Outbreaks, Chipotle Wants To Cater Your Super Bowl Party
By 1.22.16
Since Chipotle’s foodborne illness issues came to light last fall, the company has tried to win back customers by sending its CEO on an apology tour, revamping its food service standards, and now it’s looking to customers’ wallets. [More]
Chipotle’s Woes Reportedly Leading To Layoffs At Suppliers
By 1.21.16
Chipotle’s recent foodborne illness issues — a six-state e.coli contamination that sickened more than 50 people and a norvirus outbreak that left more than 150 customers ill in Boston — haven’t just caused problems for the fast casual restaurant in terms of slumping sales and dropping stock prices, it’s also reportedly trickled down the chain to the company’s suppliers in the form of layoffs. [More]
Chipotle To Give Employees Paid Sick Leave So They Don’t Make Customers Ill
By 1.19.16
Today Chipotle released more information on what exactly it’ll be discussing with employees when the chain shuts down all locations for a few hours on Feb. 8 to discuss the E. Coli and Norovirus outbreaks that hit the chain in 2015. Along with previously announced new food safety protocols, Chipotle says it will offer paid sick leave so that employees who are ill don’t have an incentive to show up to work, thus avoiding the risk of making customers sick as well. [More]
We May Never Know What Caused Chipotle’s E. Coli Outbreak
By 1.7.16
A month after an E. coli outbreak was linked to Chipotle restaurants in the Northwest, health officials believed the culprit was a vegetable of some kind. Now, nearly three months later, an exact cause still hasn’t been uncovered, and some analysts say it might never be. [More]
Chipotle’s Sales Took A Deeper Dive Than Previously Expected Amid Food Safety Issues
By 1.6.16
It’s safe to say that Chipotle’s year is off to a rough start. Today, the company announced that it had received a subpoena from a grand jury looking into the circumstances surrounding a norovirus outbreak in California, and then it disclosed another bit of not-so-great news to investors: sales this quarter are down even more than analysts predicted in November. [More]
Analysts Predict Chipotle Sales Slump To Continue Into Late 2016 Amid Food Safety Issues
By 12.28.15
Back in November when Chipotle’s woes centered solely on a six-state E. coli outbreak, stock analysts predicted the company’s sales would be down for the fourth quarter. Now, with the addition of another rare strain of E. coli sickening five customers in two additional states and more than 150 students sick from norovirus in Boston, analysts are anticipating declining sales for the fast casual restaurant until at least September 2016. [More]
Chipotle Changing Cooking Methods In Wake Of E. Coli, Norovirus Outbreaks
By 12.23.15
Weeks after Chipotle CEO Steve Ells proclaimed that the fast casual restaurant would be the “safest place to eat,” the company appears to be getting the ball rolling with a slew of new cooking methods aimed at preventing future E. coli and norovirus outbreaks that have recently sickened more than 200 customers in the U.S. [More]
Health Officials Investigating Chipotle For Different E.Coli Strain, Five Illnesses
By 12.21.15
While Chipotle CEO Steven Ells was busy riding the apology train, issuing regrets for a recent E.coli outbreak that sickened more than 50 people in nine states and a norovirus outbreak in Boston involving 140 students, the fast casual chain was being linked to five separate illnesses in three more states. [More]
Chipotle Takes Out A Full-Page Ad To Continue The Apology Parade
By 12.16.15
Chipotle co-CEO and founder Steve Ells has been riding a great big apology train around the news circuit lately, issuing a mea culpa on TV last week and mentioning again this week how “deeply sorry” he is that the chain has been linked to a nine-state E. coli outbreak that’s sickened more than 50 people and a major norovirus incident in Boston involving 140 students. He’s not done yet, either: the company took out a full-page ad in 61 newspapers around the country on Wednesday to continue apologizing to customers. [More]
Chipotle CEO Promises New Safety Standards Won’t Mean Higher Prices
By 12.16.15
After Chipotle CEO Steve Ells pledged that new safety standards would be going into effect at the chain’s restaurants across the U.S., promising it would soon be “the safest place to eat,” some customers might have wondered whether the cost of that initiative would hit them right where it hurts most, the wallet. But Ells says customers don’t need to worry about the price of their (hopefully) E. coli-free burritos and tacos going up. [More]
Chipotle Has Been Making Customers Sick Since The Summer, Company Says “There Really Wasn’t A Pattern”
By 12.11.15
Although Chipotle CEO and co-founder Steve Ells apologized yesterday to customers who have gotten sick from eating at the chain recently — whether from E. Coli or norovirus — it’s worth remembering that there are some folks who’ve had to wait a bit longer for that mea culpa. [More]
Chipotle CEO Apologizes For Making People Sick: “We Are Going To Be The Safest Place To Eat”
By 12.10.15
After Chipotle customers all over the country have fallen ill from eating at the chain’s restaurants, founder and co-CEO Steve Ells says he’s sorry the restaurant has caused so many to become sick, and promised to implement new food safety guidelines to help prevent such outbreaks from happening in the future. [More]
UPDATE: Chipotle Closes Boston College Location To Investigate After Nearly 80 Students Become Ill
By 12.8.15
UPDATE: Health officials Boston College now say that nearly 80 students have become ill after eating at a campus-area Chipotle restaurant that has since been temporarily closed. [More]
Chipotle E. Coli Outbreak Expands To Three More States
By 12.4.15
Hours after Chipotle said it was bracing for additional illnesses to be linked to an ongoing E. coli outbreak, health officials confirmed that the contamination now spans nine states — three more than previously reported. [More]
Chipotle Bracing For More E. Coli Cases, Revamps Food-Supply Standards
By 12.4.15
Chipotle is preparing for the worst when it comes to a six-state E. coli outbreak: anticipating that additional cases and more states may enter the contamination fray. [More]
Celery Supplier Linked To Costco Chicken Salad E. Coli Outbreak Issues Recalls Affecting 13 More Retailers
By 12.1.15
The E. Coli outbreak linked to a rotisserie chicken salad sold by Costco that’s sickened 19 customers in seven states has been traced back to a single ingredient: celery that comes from a supplier in California. That farm has now issued a recall for a slew of products that could contain tainted celery sold at 13 additional retailers across the country. [More]
