In the wake of multiple food poisoning incidents in its restaurants, Chipotle will be closing all of its stores for a part of the day on February 8 for an all-staff meeting to discuss food safety.
It wasn't just the company's sales figures that suffered due to the health scandals, however, as Chipotle's stocks have also taken a grave blow, plunging 42 percent in the last three months, CNN Money reported.
Federal officials haven't confirmed if the E.coli outbreak is over. Soon thereafter, Chipotle will begin an intensive campaign focused on assuring news outlets that the food outbreaks are over and reminding consumers how great the food tastes, according to Food Safety News.
Just last month, in December, some 140 students at Boston College were infected with norovirus, prompting the shutdown of the local Chipotle near campus.
The following announcement probably won't improve Chipotle's tarnished image. Customers have sued Chipotle and the company was recently served with a subpoena by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Office of Criminal Investigations.
Chipotle Chief Financial Officer Jack Hartung noted the company's recovery would be "messy", with investments in food safety and marketing eating into profit margins.
More than 500 people are estimated to have become ill after eating in Chipotle restaurants in the second half of 2015.
The CDC has not identified a cause for the health problems, but a lawyer told the Chicago Tribune that he represents 75 people who are suing the company over the safety of their food. "I have confidence we are going to be able to recover from this". 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.
In November, Chipotle temporarily closed 43 restaurants in Washington and OR after 22 E. coli cases were linked to its eateries.
Rooney scores again as Man United beats Liverpool 1-0
Our performance and a lot of things we did today were really good. Rooney did so to score for a fifth time in his last four games.
