Chipotle Is Temporarily Closing All Of Its Stores To Talk About Food Safety

The latest solution out of Chipotle headquarters amidst PR panic following a health and safety scandal is to close all restaurants. Don't panic — all Chipotle locations will only be closed for one day, on February 8. The head honchos at Chipotle will be taking that day to meet with all staff and educate team members on how to best approach food safety in the future.

"We want to thank our teams for all of their hard work, to discuss some of the changes we are making to enhance food safety, to talk about the restaurants role in all of that and to answer questions from employees," Chris Arnold, Chipotle's spokesperson, said in an email to the Chicago Tribune.

To bring you up to speed, Chipotle, which was not long ago considered the fastest-growing restaurant chain in the business and a leader at the forefront of the fast casual movement, has suffered fiscal and reputational blows following multiple foodborne illness outbreaks that resulted in 200 people sickened from either E. coli or norovirus, and at least 50 stores being shut down temporarily. Since then, the chain has been knee-deep in legal troubles, with lawsuits from investors and sick people, as well as a subpoena from the USDA.

And there's more to come, according to Bill Marler, a food safety litigator in Seattle.

"I represent a total of 75 people, but I haven't filed all their lawsuits yet," Marler told the Chicago Tribune.