On Thursday, the founder and co-Chief Executive Officer of the restaurant company, Chipotle - Steve Ells, expressed regret to customers who fell sick after eating at the company's restaurants, committing by a solemn promise, that sweeping new food safety practices in the company's restaurants will prevent such outbreaks in the future.
The Chairman of Chipotle Mexican Grill Steve Ells said in an interview, "This was a very unfortunate incident and I'm deeply sorry that this happened, but the methods we're putting in place today are so above industry norms that we are going to be the safest place to eat."
The comments of Steve Ells come one day after local health officials declared that 80 individuals had been sickened by norovirus linked to a Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. restaurant in Boston - in the latest wave of customers who felt unwell on the heels of another outbreak in the Northwestern U.S.
Since November, the burrito restaurant chain has been under critical examination, when health officials first linked the restaurant chain to the E. coli outbreak, it is Chipotle's third food safety incident since August.
The sicknesses have skyrocketed concerns about the potential destruction of Chipotle's reputation despite the loyalty it has created over its utilization of fresh produce, meats raised without antibiotics and ingredients free of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs.
The founder and co-Chief Executive Officer, said that with the norovirus (which can cause acute gastroenteritis in humans) case in Boston, the establishment will reopen having been totally sanitized and all of its workers tested for the virus, which is very infectious and can be easily passed through contact with contaminated surfaces, improper hygiene and contaminated food.
Reportedly, more than 120 individuals in the northeastern U.S. city had the symptoms.
And, when the CEO was asked whether the company could recover financially, Steve Ells replied "certainly."
