Chipotle Launches Enhanced Food Safety Program After E.coli Investigation

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. launched an enhanced food safety program in the wake of an investigation into an E.coli outbreak that forced the closure of 43 restaurants in Washington and Oregon. Working with Seattle-based IEH Laboratories, Chipotle created a program that includes high-resolution testing of all fresh produce before it's shipped to restaurants, testing to make sure that items maintain their quality throughout their shelf life, supply chain testing and data analysis, and more staff training on food safety standards and food handling. Chipotle said in a statement that thousands of food sample tests have shown no E.coli, no ingredients that are likely to have been tied to the incident are in restaurants or the supply system, and no employees have been identified as having E.coli since the incident began. Chipotle shares are down 21.4% for the past three months. The S&P is up 6.7% for the same period.