New Chipotle Food Safety Procedures Largely in Place
Company will share learnings from 2015 outbreaks at all-team meeting
Chipotle Mexican Grill will host a national employee meeting on February 8, to thank employees for their work implementing Chipotle’s comprehensive new food safety programs in their restaurants, as well as outlining for all employees the steps that have been taken outside the restaurants to make Chipotle ingredients safer than ever. The company will also share information as to what may have caused some customers to become ill in 2015.
“Over the last few months, we have been implementing an enhanced food safety plan that will establish Chipotle as an industry leader in food safety,” said Steve Ells, founder, chairman and co-CEO of Chipotle. “Most of the new protocols are already in place, thanks to the hard work and dedication our excellent restaurant teams. Additionally, we have implemented unprecedented food safety standards with our suppliers, which make the food coming into our restaurants safer than ever before.”
Chipotle’s enhanced food safety program is the product of a comprehensive reassessment of its food safety practices conducted with industry leading experts that included a farm-to-fork assessment of each ingredient Chipotle uses with an eye toward establishing the highest standards for safety. The program’s many components include:
“Chipotle is an established leader in our use of high quality ingredients – ingredients like Responsibly Raised™ meats, local and organically grown produce and pasture-raised dairy – and preparing our food using classic cooking techniques,” said Ells. “Now, we are working to establish the company as the leader in food safety as well. Our employees will play a critical role in helping us achieve this goal and we want them to know how much we appreciate their dedication to this critical mission.”