Lawsuit Alleges Chipotle Hid Several Food-borne Illness Outbreaks From The Public
Over the past couple of years, Chipotle has been hit with several major outbreaks of foodborne pathogens like norovirus and E. coli. The ones that made national news may just be the ones we know about, however, as shareholders have filed a new letter in an ongoing lawsuit claiming that Chipotle hid other foodborne illness outbreaks from the public.
Records of these outbreaks obtained by attorneys under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) showed that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) kept a total of 14 outbreaks related to the burrito chain on record between October 2014 and December 2016. Of those 14, only six were publicly reported by the CDC, Food Safety News reports. Chipotle also failed to disclose any of the other eight outbreaks not released to the general public.
The most egregious (and newly discovered) of these unreported outbreaks appears to have occurred in December of 2014, based on the letter filed by shareholders. It claims that around that time period, the CDC informed Chipotle that eight customers across three states reported E. Coli food poisoning after eating at Chipotle. Around this same time, the burrito chain had just stopped preparing produce at commissary kitchens with food safety procedures. Chipotle executives failed to disclose this outbreak in its financial statements, and even sold off about $214 million in shares before the outbreaks that did go public were announced, Law360 reports.
This December 2014 outbreak is the eighth outbreak shareholders claim went undeclared, and was added on to a class action lawsuit previously filed earlier this year against Chipotle and the CDC for failing to disclose the other seven. The defendants had motioned for the suit to be dismissed prior to this new court filing.
A CDC spokesperson told Food Safety News that the agency was “reviewing the court filing” and declined to comment for now. CDC policy, however, tends to not disclose the names of restaurants or food businesses involved in health outbreaks, leaving that decision up to the USDA or FDA depending on jurisdiction. Those agencies may further delay or decline to publicly release information until evidence confirms a link between a company and an outbreak without question.
Chipotle spokesperson Chris Arnold told Foodbeast that the new letter is “nothing more than a last-ditch effort to try to resurrect” the lawsuit, which Arnold noted as having “already been dismissed.” The initial suit was tossed in March, but an amended suit was filed a month later, which is what this latest letter was attached to.
Arnold also dismissed the importance of being contacted by the CDC, saying that “Having simply been contacted by CDC as part of an investigation is not necessary meaningful. We were contacted by CDC regarding an investigation they were conducting in late 2014 and provided the ingredient tracking information they requested. Based on our supply chain information, there was no clear link between the cases they were investigating and any of our restaurants.”
Chipotle’s ingredient traceability, however, was shaky at best at the time, according to a 2015 report from Bloomberg. Chipotle had trouble telling the CDC what batches of ingredients went to what stores, meaning that the CDC failed to make any conclusions regarding the source of those outbreaks.
Still, when it comes to accountability, especially with a chain known for having issues with food safety and handling, Chipotle’s shareholders clearly feel that something should have been said, which is why this new letter has been filed.
