Listen: Chipotle has been through some hard times. While they’ll always have diehard fans, they can’t escape bad press for their foodborne illnesses. The chain’s problems started in 2015 with a salmonella outbreak in Minnesota. The following month, the chain had to temporarily close down 43 locations in Washington and Oregon after an E.coli outbreak. In December of that same year, a norovirus outbreak was reported to have started in a Boston Chipotle location. Meanwhile, their quarterly earnings started to decrease, with customers afraid of eating at the chain and their reputation in danger. Despite trying hard to make things right by retraining employees and promising its clientele that Chipotle is a safe restaurant with safe food practices, the Mexican food chain is still making people sick.
Just days ago, it was reported that over 700 patrons of an Ohio-based Chipotle contracted food poisoning. The company’s way of saying sorry? By offering bacon.
Have you ever had food poisoning before? It is, without a doubt, the worst. Usually, after one bad experience, you might not want to frequent the restaurant that caused it ever again — especially when there are so many other options. So, this timing is a bit questionable. Not that bacon isn’t awesome.
Chipotle is offering bacon as a topping for their burrito bowls. According to Eater, they’re currently testing the new menu item in Southern California.
USA Today even reports that bacon will be available as a topping for any of their popular items, including tacos and salads. It’ll probably be a hit, as bacon has literally never made anything worse. (Unless it does, but let’s keep our fingers crossed.)
But still — is it too little, too late? Instead of bacon, customers would likely want some answers as to why the chain is continuously plagued with health scares. The scary part about the recent scare in Ohio is that they still can’t figure out why everyone’s sick. Tests for common bacteria like salmonella, norovirus, and E. coli all came back negative.
Even if you don’t end up grabbing a bacon-topped bowl at Chipotle, at least they’ve provided some food inspiration for your next salad or burrito.
Think you’ve gotten sick from a restaurant? Report it to the FDA here.
