By Grace Madlem and Kaitlyn Carroll
Throughout the country multiple cases of foodborne illnesses have broken out due to the ingredients used in the popular Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurant. This franchised restaurant, sponsored by McDonald’s, became home to multiple cases of infectious diseases including: escherichia coli, salmonella, and norovirus.
In August 2015, 64 Chipotle customers in Minnesota became infected with salmonella and in southern California around 100 people had norovirus. These seemingly isolated outbursts later escalated into a more serious problem when in October, the E. Coli disease infected 53 people in nine states.
Despite the multiple hospitalizations due to the diseases, students seem mostly unconcerned about the well-being of the food.
“I don’t eat there much anyways, but if they say they’re [the diseases] quarantined I’ll take a leap and trust it,” Grace Dwyer, junior, said.
Another student, Liliana Chanler shares a similar opinion.
“It is worrisome but I’m not afraid to go there,” Chanler, sophomore, said.
Denying all fears, Chipotle’s overarching PR manager, Chris Arnold, puts the public’s mind at ease.
“It is safer to eat in our restaurants now than it ever has been before,” Arnold said, “it’s important to note that these illnesses occurred months ago and, since this began, we have taken a number of steps to enhance food safety.”
The main E. Coli outbreaks were initially discovered in Washington and Oregon. Chipotle responded to this by closing 43 branches located in these states. As the E. Coli outbreak soon spread to 11 states, the company shut down all restaurants for half the day nationwide on Feb. 8th.
“I think it’s a good first step,” Dwyer said, “I think they need to stay public with all the precautions that they’re taking, and just take extra safety measures for a while so that people can restore their trust [in Chipotle].”
During the half-day shut down, Chipotle held staff meetings in every franchise in order to discuss food safety, changes, and answer employees questions. The store reopened for dinner, but in order to boost profits and attendance the store offered a promotion for a “Raincheck Burrito” in case they ruined your lunch plans.
Essentially, customers could get a free promo burrito by simply texting a number. As the company’s stock declined by 42% in Jan. due to the disease crisis, this promotion hoped to boost popularity. The promotion and promises of sanitary food by the company seem to have worked as the stock value of the company has once again increased.
Employees and a manager from both the Howell Mill and Ponce Chipotle branches refused to comment about the E. Coli outbreak. Faculty members, including branch managers, are not allowed to give any response to questions asked about the incident.
In trying to find the source of the disease outbreak, the CDC was inconclusive.
“We don’t know for sure, and probably never will,” Arnold said. “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has completed its investigation and no cause was determined, which is not unusual; it happens about half the time.”
