Article
Why Chipotle will bounce back from E. coli scare
After closing 43 restaurants in an effort to defuse the health scare caused by the recent E. coli outbreak, Chipotle is doing a deep cleaning of the locations and has hired two food safety consulting firms to help it assess and improve food safety.
November 4, 2015 by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com
After arecent E. coli outbreak forced Chipotle to close 43 stores, it reported today that it's now conducting a deep cleaning of the locations and has hired two food safety consulting firms to help it assess and improve food safety. It's a smart move, said Consolidated Concepts' Wade Winters, as it will be key in helping the chain calm customer fear. Three people in the Portland area and 19 in Washington State got sick after eating at the Chipotle restaurants since Oct. 14, the Oregon Health Authority reported on Oct. 31. There have been no deaths, but a third of those affected were hospitalized, the agency said.
"Chipotle should be given credit for how it handled this situation, Winters said. "It took swift and decisive steps to minimize further contamination, implementing immediate actions, and cooperated fully with health officials. It is never a positive situation when someone gets sick from a food safety related issue, but this should be a reminder that there is always risk and we can’t ever get lazy or cut corners when it comes to food safety in the supply chain. As quoted by Sun Tzu, 'In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.' "
While no cause has yet been identified by investigating health officials, Steve Ells, chairman and co-CEO of Chipotle, said the brand is working closely with health department officials to find an answer.
"The safety of our customers and integrity of our food supply has always been our highest priority," he said. "We work with a number of very fresh ingredients in order to serve our customers the highest-quality, best-tasting food we can. If there are opportunities to do better, we will push ourselves to find them and enhance our already high standards for food safety. Our deepest sympathies go out to those who have been affected by this situation and it is our greatest priority to ensure the safety of all of the food we serve and maintain our customers' confidence in eating at Chipotle."
Ells said the chain is also:
- Conducting environmental testing in its restaurants, and food testing in its restaurants and distribution centers in addition to testing being conducted by health department officials.
- Replacing all food items in the restaurants we closed, out of an abundance of caution
- And batch testing some ingredients before resupplying.
Incidents like this, Winters said, should serve as a reminder of us how important stringent food safety procedures are in this industry.
“There is a high level of ‘trust’ in the food supply chain that is often taken for granted," he said. "Consumers put their trust in the hands of the restaurants that they patronize, restaurants put their trust in the distributors, distributors put their trust in the manufacturers and freight companies, manufacturers put their trust in the growers of the raw materials, etc. Just like any sports team, the food supply chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Constantly enforcing food safety protocols throughout every stage of the food supply chain is critical."
Chipotle is no stranger to food safety issues. Tomatoes served at 22 Chipotle Mexican Grill locations in September in Minnesota were the source of the state's recent Salmonella Newport outbreak, which made 64 people sick, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. Nine of the victims were hospitalized but have recovered.
Although MDH, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are working together to trace the tomatoes back to the out-of-state farm they came from, Chipotle has since switched tomato suppliers and the product has been removed from stores, according to MDH.
About Cherryh Cansler
