James Marsden, Chipotle Mexican Grill’s food safety leader, will be retiring in Q2 2019. The casual fast food chain is currently searching for a replacement, according to a Bloomberg report.
Marsden joined Chipotle in 2016 in an effort to help the restaurant recover from a food safety crisis, a problem that Chipotle has encountered again and again over the past few years.
July 2018 - An Ohio Chipotle store temporarily closed after hundreds complain of foodborne illness
July 2017 - Online reports of foodborne illness point to a Virginia-area Chipotle store
March 2016 - Sick employees prompt a Massachusetts store to temporarily close
December 2015 - CDC announces E. coli outbreak linked to Chipotle; Boston college student sickened
November 2015 - Chipotle stores in Oregon and Washington temporarily close after E. coli outbreak
In light of these food safety issues, Chipotle has made efforts to woo customers back, including introducing new menu items, new marketing efforts, and a new loyalty program to gain new customers.
In terms of food safety, the restaurant’s latest endeavor has been the implementation of Zenput at more than 2,450 of its restaurants. The tool is meant to track food safety protocols in place at each of the restaurant locations.
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