Chipotle Mexican Grill has blamed its employees for the virus outbreaks that the chain of restaurants reported during the previous year.
The chain closed its outlets for a short period of time on February 08 in order to conduct a meeting of the national team to discuss health and safety protocol.
All the outlets of the chain were closed temporarily during lunch hours on Monday. Customers hitting the restaurants at that time were provided with Chipotle free burrito to make up for the inconvenience. All a customer needed to do was text ‘raincheck’ to 888-222. The company sent the coupon for free burrito.
Chipotle further revealed that the tomatoes may have been the reason for salmonella outbreak in Wisconsin and Minnesota. A statement released by Chipotle read that the company does not dice tomatoes within its restaurant premises for any of the items in the Chipotle menu.
However, after the conclusion of the investigation conducted by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the representatives of the chain are still clueless regarding the ingredients that were responsible for E. coli outbreaks.
A number of actions have been taken by the chain for controlling foodborne illnesses. First of all, they shifted some food preparations to the chain’s central kitchen. Second, they have started to blanch food ingredients, and third, a few modifications have also been introduced in the marinating process of chicken and steak.
Moreover, Chipotle has also announced a paid leave policy for employees so that they will be encouraged to stay at home when they are sick. The company also announced bonuses to be awarded to individual outlets on safety measures.
Moreover Chipotle also announced an initiative for local growers committing 10 million Dollars for helping local producers supply the chain with its food ingredients that meet the new food safety standards.
The money will offset the education and testing costs for growers in the chain’s existing local produce program.
