Physical Wellness

Chipotle Boston Reopens After Norovirus Outbreak

By Jenn Loro | Update Date: Dec 28, 2015 09:31 AM EST

Food scandal-ridden burrito chain giant Chipotle Mexican Grill finally reopened its Cleveland Circle restaurant branch where 136 Boston College reportedly fell ill due to food-borne illness caused by norovirus which saw an end to several weeks of closure as ordered by local health authorities.

The outbreak of norovirus that sickened dozens of college students earlier this month was unrelated to a much larger E.Coli-caused outbreak which affected Chipotle's food services nationwide.

According to UPI, an investigation conducted by city officials found that the Cleveland Circle branch committed a number of food safety and health code violations such as serving insufficiently heated meat and allowing a sick employee to report for work.

After a series of tests, health officials finally gave a green light for the popular US-wide franchise to operate again and serve food to health-conscious public. But an unrelated problem of water leak forced the management to delay the branch's reopening until everything got fixed.

"We didn't have to do anything more than fixing the leak and any related damage," told Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold as quoted saying by Boston Globe.

To allay public fears and put doubts to rest, Boston's chief health inspector plans to dine in at the restaurant as mentioned by CBS Boston.

Chipotle has been on a defensive mode since reports of E.Coli outbreak hit the national headlines last October. Investment analysts earlier predicted that the plummeting stock price and plunging sales in recent months will force a major rethink in the company's strategy to win back the trust of its large customer base.

Some pundits think that Chipotle lessons will make a great case study for businesses.

"The Chipotle food-borne illness case will now be studied by restaurant operators, financial pros and p.r. officials for years to come," noted JP Morgan analyst John Ivankoe as stated by New York Post.

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