Chipotle Says It Has Righted Its Food Safety Ship

Battered by a loss of customers and sales, a severe drop in stock value, and facing a bundle of lawsuits and even a federal criminal probe, Chipotle Mexican Grill says it has taken the necessary steps to ensure that the spate of foodborne illness outbreaks at its restaurants since July 2015 does not continue. The company hired a food safety specialist who says all of his recommendations have now been adopted, and the risk of further food contamination is now at “a level of near zero.” But Seattle-based attorney Bill Marler, who is handling several of the lawsuits against Chipotle, believes that the company still doesn’t know “how to embrace food safety with the same zeal they’ve shown for the other things” – i.e., being local, organic and fresh – “they’re striving for.”