Chipotle and its customers can’t seem to catch a break.
This past Tuesday Chipotle temporarily closed a Sterling, Virginia Chipotle restaurant after customers began reporting symptoms of food-borne illness after ingesting food from the Sterling location between July 13th and July 16th. First-hand reports provided from the crowdsourced website iwaspoisoned.com reveal customers fell ill after ingesting several of the restaurant’s food items, including carnitas, chicken, steak, and tofu. Several of those reports indicated that customers symptoms were so severe that medical attention was required.
The recent incident should draw criticism to Chipotle’s enhanced food safety practices, which were adopted by the Denver-based chain in 2016 following struggles to contain repeated outbreaks of E.Coli, Norovirus, and Salmonella in several states. Chipotle advertises its product as ‘Food with Integrity’, detailing a robust supplier engagement protocol on its website. Even with procedures in place, it doesn’t appear to be working for the restaurant chain. Chipotle’s director of food safety, Jim Marsden, issued a press release on Tuesday notifying customers (and presumably stockholders) that local officials have been notified, further providing that “[t]he reported symptoms are consistent with Norovirus.” Even though the restaurant moved swiftly to close the restaurant serving contaminated food, further damage to the restaurants reputation and health standard appears to have already been done.
According to information found on the CDC website, Norovirus is the leading cause of approximately 56,000-71,000 hospitalizations a year, and another 1.7-1.9 million outpatient visits a year. Norovirus contamination can occur at any point during the food production lifecycle, including cultivation, distribution, and preparation. At this point in time it is difficult to pinpoint the cause of the recent outbreak, however Chipotle must plan to further enhance food preparation and handling standards to further protect the health of consumers.
Harford, P.C., is now investigating foodborne illness cases, including the most recent Norovirus outbreak at Chipotle. We have the necessary experience representing and litigating these claims. If you or someone you know developed a bacterial foodborne illness, please contact us immediately at (212) 390-8983 for a free consultation.
