Burrito Blues: Chipotle's Last Stand

Chipotle seems to be in it's death throes now and E. Coli and norovirus are it's killers.

I remember when Chipotle was the big new thing. When I was in high school we used to go to Chipotle at least once a week. We would have eaten those burritos every day if we could. I slowed down when I got older and discovered how many calories are living in those burritos, but I still went once in a while. But I completely stopped after hearing about the almost 50 people who fell ill in 14 different states, including mine. When I stopped I discovered local authentic Mexican food and I don't think I'd ever go back to Chipotle's ripoff burritos. But they're addictive, I get it.

Well, you might want to reconsider that burrito now. Another Chipotle - this time in Boston - was forced to close ("temporarily") after three employees came down with norovirus. Another restaurant in Billerica, MA had four employees call out sick the same day, one of whom tested positive for norovirus.

If you're not familiar with norovirus, it's basic food poisoning (sometimes called the "stomach flu", though it isn't actually the flu). 19 to 21 million people get norovirus in the United States every year and it's not generally a cause for concern. So why am I concerned about Chipotle? Because it isn't the customers getting the disease anymore. Now even the employees are getting sick. The employees who make the food. Did I mention that norovirus is very contagious? And the best way to prevent it? Proper hand washing and general cleanliness.

I often hear people - especially those who have worked in food service - telling me I don't want to know what goes on behind closed doors. What you don't know can't hurt you. But I say we should know. Maybe things like this wouldn't happen if we knew the level of cleanliness utilized in a restaurant. I know I wouldn't patronize a place if I knew its employees weren't washing their hands. Why does it take so many people getting ill before we react?

It is certainly effecting Chipotle, whose sales have fallen sharply (down at least 18% in the last quarter) and whose stock is also down about 18%.

There might be hope for Chipotle though. They're holding company wide food safety meetings and have developed new food safety practices. But what they do in the future doesn't worry me nearly as much as what it took to make them do it. What other restaurants are following in Chipotle's footsteps? Is our only really safe dining space the one in our own home? Are we in danger of being poisoned every time we go out for dinner?

Do you still visit Chipotle? Have you gotten ill from it? Do you worry about getting ill? Leave me a comment below and tell me how you feel about this issue.