Despite the rough past few months the chain endured, including several food poisoning outbreaks, and in some instances E. coli, loyal customers still continue to pour into Auburn’s Chipotle.
Chris Arnold, public relations director for Chipotle, said the restaurant has been working on a solution that will hopefully prevent further outbreaks of food sickness.
“We did a really comprehensive review of food safety practices, from farm to restaurants,” Arnold said. “From that assessment, we developed a food safety plan, which we hope will establish Chipotle as a leader in food safety.”
Arnold said on the day Chipotle closed its doors, the new plan was being taught to employees nationwide.
Will Kelley, freshman in business, said he still eats at the restaurant.
“I was skeptical about eating at Chipotle for a while after the E. coli outbreak,” Kelley said. “I actually had not eaten there for about two months, but when they offered a free burrito after closing their stores, I was sold.”
Chipotle offered one free meal to customers to make up for the closure.
Mackie Arbaugh, sophomore in public relations, said she wasn’t worried about the outbreak occurring in Auburn.
“Food sickness outbreaks happen,” Arbaugh said. “Chipotle is not the first restaurant chain to have this situation occur. I still ate at the Auburn location because I had not heard of anyone in this area being affected by it. I was just eating dinner there last week, and the line was wrapped all the way around the restaurant. So I do not think the Auburn location will have any problems profit-wise.”
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