Chipotle to close all stores nationwide for one day

Chipotle Mexican Grill is closing its restaurants at lunchtime on February 8 to discuss what the chain is doing in response to the E. coli outbreak linked to its locations, which it has been dealing with since October.

Chipotle locations will be closed for a few hours while the company’s staff discusses a range of issues, Chris Arnold, the company’s spokesman, wrote in a Thursday e-mail to the Chicago Tribune.

The company announced Wednesday it will launch a marketing campaign in February to kick off its road to recovery after the food scares, Fox News reported.

In August, 64 Chipotle customers in Minnesota were infected with Salmonella, which is commonly spread through food contaminated with feces.

Has anyone alerted Cyn Santana about this crisis? “We did a really comprehensive review of food safety practices from farm to restaurants”. In December, more than 100 people came down with the norovirus after eating there, including members of the Boston College basketball team.

CNBC notes that sales have fallen at Chipotle and its stock price is down 40 percent from its high-water mark past year. That sense of freshly prepared ingredients has been one of Chipotle’s attractions as it has sought to distinguish itself from traditional fast-food chains. Considering the same, the company has chose to remain close for a few hours in the coming month to talk over food safety.

A Seattle’s food safety litigator Bill Marler said that more suits are on way. However, until the company can figure out a way to not have its food contaminated with disease, Chipotle will not win back the many customers it has lost.

The break comes after Chiptole has been left reeling by an E. Coli outbreak that forced the company to shut down dozens of stores. We’ve all been in those work meetings that drag endlessly with one person after another raising their hand while the rest of the conference room stares coldly at that one person.