Friday, January 15, 2016

Chipotle to close on Feb. 8

Chipotle plans to close all its restaurants on Feb. 8 so it can train its employees about food safety.

They will be closed until 3 p.m., the company says.

The company is under criminal investigation for some of the many food-poisoning outbreaks among its clients.

Most of the outbreaks have been in restaurants in the Western United States, including E. coli in California.

There was, however, a sensational outbreak of novovirus, mainly among university students who ate at a Chipotle’s restaurant in Boston.

Company spokesman Chris Arnold told Meatingplace magazine “we are hosting a national team meeting to thank our employees for their hard work through this difficult time, discuss some of the food safety changes we are implementing, and answer questions from employees.”

Steve Ellis, one of two chief executives for Chipotle, told an meeting of investors recently that "we face these difficult times now and need to reassure our customers that this can't happen again, and that we are going to reduce the risk of this kind of outbreak from occurring again to near zero."

The company has promoted itself heavily as more responsible than competitors through policies such as shunning GMOs (genetically-modified organisms), promoting animal welfare and embracing organic farming.