Due to the E. Coli outbreak that occurred in early October, Chipotle customers nationwide have been very cautious about their eating habits due to the risk of getting infected. Despite the efforts to regain the trust of burrito lovers across America, people are still quite skeptical as to whether or not they are willing to give out a second chance.

I do not think that people should rule out Chipotle from their diets so quickly, especially if they have not been infected. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 53 people infected in nine states. This means this outbreak has taken a mental toll on thousands of other people across America and has influenced their decision to completely be rid of Chipotle.

Because Chipotle has done a great job in taking the correct steps in bettering this situation, people should put their trust into the company that has served food safely and deliciously for over 22 years.

California Lutheran University senior, Christina Davi, said she also believes that people should continue eating at Chipotle, despite the outbreak.

“I would still eat there. This isn’t the first restaurant to have an outbreak. A lot of restaurants make people sick. I understand it was a nationwide thing and they had to shut down but people get sick from food all the time,” Davi said.

It is not easy to trust a restaurant with food health irregularity after an outbreak. It would also be very difficult to stop eating somewhere that someone you know got sick because of the amount of options that would immediately eliminate at the same time.

“If you say you’re not going there because someone you know got sick, you’re never going to eat out ever again, so I think it’s a little extreme,” Davi said.

Chipotle would love nothing more than to put this outbreak behind them and look forward to continue the Mexican food craze they have worked so hard to achieve over the years. Which is why they are taking every precaution possible to ensure that history does not repeat itself.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported the variety of precautions Chipotle is now taking to better their products that are being served. This included testing their produce and meats before restocking them in the restaurant, adding extra safety procedures to keep the safety standards up to par, replacing the ingredients in the closed restaurants and sanitizing and deep cleaning the restaurants that were closed in order to obtain optimal cleanliness in each restaurant.

In the New York Times article, “Chipotle Meeting Outlines Food Safety to Workers and Message for Public,” Steve Ells, the company founder and co-chief executive stated, “People will come back,” during a virtual meeting that was held Feb. 8. This meeting involved closing over 2,000 restaurants in order to get the attention of over 50,000 employees in order to attain better food safety and keep company morale high despite the hurdles of the past few months.

It is very understandable as to why people are cautious and debatable as to whether or not they would give Chipotle another try. However, I think it is important for people who used to eat there regularly to remember all the things that were done right for all those years as opposed to what was done wrong for only a few months.

Allen Adamson, who is a marketing consultant for BrandSimple, stated in the New York Times that he is also trying to figure out a way to earn back the trust of past Chipotle lovers.

“It’s going to take significant meaningful action that goes beyond telling employees to be more careful and, unfortunately, some time before consumers start to believe it,” Adamson said.

McKay Weiler
Staff Writer
Published February 24th, 2016