Rant #1,626: Sickness All Around

Now we hear that a Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurant in Massachusetts was closed down because four of its workers became sick, possibly of norovirus.

Once again, this popular restaurant chain was hit with some type of virus outbreak, and although no customers reported being ill, the restaurant was closed down as a precaution.

Is this an isolated incident, or is it a continuation of the recent ills that have greatly impacted the chain in recent times?

You might recall that last year, many of the chain's restaurants were sites of an E.coli outbreak, and eventually, all the chain's outlets were closed down and sanitized from top to bottom.

Later, stores closed for part of the day so workers could learn about cleanliness procedures.

The president of the company even went on national TV and apologized for this problem.

But incredibly, it continues to persist.

"Why?" is the question right now, and predictably, no one has an answer.

Are their procedures any different than any other fast casual or fast food restaurants, like a McDonald's or Burger King?

Investigators have found nothing to suggest that there is any sabotage on any end, including in where they get their food and ingredients and where they get their equipment, so what's the deal here?

Chipolte patterned itself, and became immensely popular, as a healthier alternative to the hamburger joints, offering supposedly healthier food to its patrons. They were at the forefront of this movement, but now, ironically, while their healthfulness isn't being questioned, their safety is.

Are they doing anything in their procedures to foster a safety problem?

Evidently not. They have changed some procedures, but really, supposedly only to make sure that they aren't doing anything wrong--there was nothing wrong with these procedures to begin with, but they have changed them just in case.

So why is this happening to Chipotle?

No one seems to know, but I will tell you, we don't eat there anymore.

My wife enjoys their food, but since the original outbreak, we have stayed away, lest we be frightened into thinking that we might get something if we ate there.

And I am sure that millions of others have thought the same thing.

A few years back, Taco Bell--not thought as the healthiest restaurant, but that is neither here nor there in this discussion--had to close down and reinspect its procedures after an illness outbreak, but they located the problem--I think it had to do with infected lettuce, if I remember correctly--and they have gone on without incident since then.

I don't remember Burger King, McDonald's, Wendy's or any other national chains going through any problems like this, although you probably can assume that they have reviewed all of their procedures since the Chipotle mess.

Then why Chipotle, and seemingly, Chipotle alone?

Nobody knows or can figure it out, and that is what makes things scary.

Is this chain simply snakebit? Is there an actual reason why it has been hit by these viruses?

Again, no one knows, but I guess my family and I will continue to stay away from this restaurant until this is all cleared up ...

If that is even possible at this stage of the game.