The fallout from Chipotle's recent norovirus outbreak at some of its stores continues to mount, with sales plummeting and a federal criminal investigation underway, as NPR reports:
The company says it has received a subpoena from a federal grand jury in connection with a norovirus outbreak last fall at one of its restaurants in Simi Valley, Calif.
In August, 189 customers were sickened after visiting the restaurant, as well as 18 Chipotle employees, according to Doug Beach, manager of the Community Services Program at the Ventura County Environmental Health Department, in an interview with NPR.
Chiptole said it is cooperating fully with the investigation, which has been jointly carried out by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Office of Criminal Investigations.
News of the criminal probe prompted a number of news outlets to run stories questioning whether the very idea of sourcing local food—which has been Chipotle's calling card—is in serious jeopardy.
That's a debate in and of itself, but this isn't the first time a food provider has faced potential criminal charges, says Constellation VP and principal analyst Guy-Frederic Courtin. "It's a good thing: If you're dealing with people's food and you screw up, it shouldn't be just a fine," he says. ""The reality is, this is hard. It's the same thing in the pharma space. If you can not properly track and trace all your products through the supply chain, you will go to jail."
"People think, this beef is going to be 'safer,' because I saw that cow at the farm when I drove by," he adds. "But part of the reason why Chicago became Chicago is because it was a centralized point for processing meat. The problem is now if you start locally sourcing, you have smaller areas that still have to process the food. If it's locally raised and harvested, how do I regulate that, make sure their plants are clean and supervised? It becomes a very difficult problem."
The Bottom Line
Chipotle's escalating woes should make every company that handles food start thinking about doing a hard audit of its supply chain, Courtin says. "Do you understand who all of your suppliers are? Do you have checks and balances in place and other options if you have to swap them out?
Technology's not the entire solution, but there are technologies to consider using in conjunction with ongoing supply chain monitoring, such as social media listening tools, Courtin adds. A close ear on what consumers are saying could help companies detect, react to and contain problems like a norovirus outbreak faster.
