Chipotle Mexican Grill’s (CMG) biggest nightmare has been the food poisoning incidents that rocked the burrito chain over the past few years. The most recent one involved an outbreak at one of its Ohio restaurants last month in which around 650 people fell ill.
Health officials revealed that the reason behind the illness outbreak was the failure to store food at safe temperatures. They found that foods like lettuce and beans were not being stored at the appropriate cool and warm temperatures, respectively and also saw raw chicken being left carelessly alongside other food items.
Chipotle said it would retrain all employees on food safety methods
Chipotle’s CEO Brian Niccol said the company would retrain all employees on food safety methods. Following the incident, the restaurant was temporarily closed while all food products were replaced and the location was thoroughly cleaned.
The food safety issues hit Chipotle’s reputation hard and presented Niccol with the herculean task of fixing it. Nothing harms a restaurant more than foodborne illness outbreaks, and Chipotle took the worst of it. The company lost customers, and the stock suffered hits too.
Chipotle has been working hard ever since and has taken several measures to make sure its food products are safe to consume. The recent incident has called for more action and increased scrutiny at the restaurant chain. Chipotle’s shares fell around 4% following the news.