On Tuesday, Chipotle agreed to pay the largest food safety fine ever imposed, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
The restaurant was charged with two counts of violating the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act by “adulterating food while held for sale after shipment in interstate commerce,” prosecutors said.
If the company complies with “an improved food safety program,” it will avoid conviction the Justice Department stated.
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Chipotle failed to “ensure that its employees both understood and complied with its food safety protocols, resulting in hundreds of customers across the country getting sick,”Nick Hanna, U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, stated.
Today’s steep penalty, coupled with the tens of millions of dollars Chipotle already has spent to upgrade its food safety program since 2015, should result in greater protections for Chipotle customers,” he continued.
The restaurant also took accountability for causing food borne illnesses between 2015-2018, in Boston, Los Angeles, and Ohio, and Virginia, due to the negligence of its’ employees.
“This settlement represents an acknowledgment of how seriously Chipotle takes food safety every day and is an opportunity to definitively turn the page on past events and focus on serving our customers real food made with real ingredients that they can enjoy with confidence,” Brian Niccol, chairman and chief executive of Chipotle Mexican Grill, said in the statement.
The company stated it has modified polices and created “an independent Food Safety Advisory Council comprised of highly experienced food safety professionals who are independent food safety experts to provide ongoing guidance on best practices to ensure that food served in its restaurants is safe,” according to New York Times.
Source: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/chipotle-mexican-grill-agrees-pay-25-million-fine-and-enter-deferred-prosecution-agreement
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