Renowned food chain Chipotle’s Food Poisoning woes are far from being over. On Tuesday, July 18, the food chain confirmed yet another food poisoning incident this time at the Chipotle Mexican Grill in Sterling, Virginia. The patrons who consumed food at the said outlet were reportedly suffering from symptoms of norovirus.
Eight cases of food poisoning between July 14 and July 17 - all related to Chipotle - were reported on iwaspoisoned.com. Consumers who have fallen sick after eating from restaurants can go this website to report the outlet. The customers who consumed food at the Chipotle Mexican Grill complained of suffering from dehydration, diarrhea, and stomach pain.
Some customers were in such a bad shape that they had to be hospitalized.
Food poisoning complaints hound Chipotle
CNBC reported that Chipotle’s executive director of the food safety division Jim Marsden stated that the local health officials have been made aware of the incident that took place at the outlet. However, in a statement released on July 18, Marsden states that the norovirus did not come from eatery’s food sources and the administration plans to reopen the restaurant again after a temporary shutdown. He further assured that the administration takes the reports of each and every illness seriously, and the management is working according to its protocol to ensure staff, as well as consumer safety.
The statement also mentioned that following the complaint of the nororvirus food poisoning the restaurant underwent complete sanitization.
However, these measures and assurance did not keep the shares of Chipotle from sliding. The organization’s shares fell more than 5 percent after the reports of the food poisoning incident surfaced.
For the last two years, Chipotle’s numerous food safety incidents have been responsible for low consumer visits and declining sales. Although the company has shown streaks of profitability lately, the growth has been overshadowed by drug charges against a senior manager, lawsuits, data breach, and many more incidents.
Market experts differ in opinion on food safety incidents affecting Chipotle’s profits
GlobalData managing director Neil Saunders thinks that Chipotle could have done without the latest food poisoning incident. He states that even though the incident is an isolated one, it will freshen the memories of previous food safety breaches that took place at the food chain. This recollection has the potential to damage the brand name as well as the profits of the company. However, Stephen Anderson and analyst with Maxim thinks that this outbreak will not affect Chipotle in the long run.
