Chipotle gives away burritos to regain public trust after 2015 outbreaks
Expands paid sick leave days to give time for workers to recover from stomach flu
Because of the outbreaks on Chipotle Mexican Grill, the company closed all 2,000 stores across the US on Monday lunchtime. The temporary closure for three hours was to give the company time to meet its employees about food safety.
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The Mexican food chain was hit by an E. coli, norovirus and Salmonella outbreaks several times in 2015, causing some diners to be sick. As a result, diners stayed away from the restaurant. In a bid to regain lost customers and public trust, Chipotle will give away burritos.
To avail of the freebie, text the word “raincheck” to 888-222, and Chipotle will text back a coupon for a free burrito in the next few days, reports Time. It would be on a first-come, first-text basis, adds Mashable.
Gizmodo reports that Chipotle has reportedly traced the reason behind the norovirus outbreak in August and December to sick employees. Norovirus is spread person-to-person or from food or countertop that a sick person has touched.
On possible reason why there was a norovirus outbreak was that Chipotle staff have only two days of paid sick leave which is not sufficient to recover from stomach flu. New guidelines say the company would increase the number of paid sick leave day but did not specify an exact number.
Among the norovirus symptoms that staff have been advised to look out for include dark urine, yellowing of the skin and eyes, nausea, explosive diaorrhea and vomiting.
For the salmonella outbreaks in Minnesota and Wisconsin, the likely source were tomatoes. Because of this, Chipotle stopped the dicing of tomatoes on its restaurants. However, Chipotle adds that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention investigation, which ended last week, failed to pinpoint the ingredient that caused the E. coli outbreak, reports CNBC.
