By Alex Kerravala, Staff Writer
As of Monday, November 13, Supergirl star Jeremy Jordan was hospitalized and “almost died” due to the food at Chipotle disagreeing with him.
Chipotle representatives said they were able to identify the location of this crisis, but were unable to spot any similar problems to what Jordan faced.
This incident could be written off as a fluke, were it any restaurant other than Chipotle. Unfortunately for Chipotle, they have a history of foodborne illnesses among consumers. Back in 2015, Chipotle was all over the news for an E. coli outbreak among customers. After that, Chipotle was under investigation from the FDA and CDC for any criminally offensive health hazards within Chipotle.
However, the most recent update in said investigation was back in February of 2016, where the CDC declared the E. coli outbreak to be over and Chipotle was off the hook.
Since then, there has been nothing quite as serious as E. coli from Chipotle, but there have been various strings of smaller foodborne illnesses, such as what actor Jeremy Jordan is facing, that can all lead back to Chipotle.
The question is, then, should the FDA and CDC take action against Chipotle, due to its history of health issues?
As a student with a Chipotle not five minutes away from me, I would happily say “no.”
Chipotle has a history of dangerous food, that is obvious enough to anyone who watches the news. That being said, there aren’t nearly enough health concerns for the government to take action.
If the CDC and FDA couldn’t charge Chipotle after an E. coli epidemic, something that was best described as “The food did not agree with me,” is certainly not a good enough reason to shut down a restaurant. At least, not good enough for the government to take charge.
Lucky for us, we live in a capitalist society, where we are able to vote in more ways than one. Not only can we cast ballots, we can also vote with our wallets.
If Chipotle is something that scares you, tell everyone you know not to go there.
Boycott Chipotle, stop giving them money until it makes such an impact that if Chipotle wants to keep making money, as any restaurant wants to do, it needs to make certain changes, such as addressing the health concerns.
Thankfully, “voting with your wallets” is already in full swing, as Chipotle’s stock value continues to drop since Jordan was hospitalized. The FDA may not have a strong leg to stand on, but the masses Chipotle wants to take money from certainly do.
A disaster like this is going to cost Chipotle, and it will cost more and more the longer it takes to fix this issue.
In reality, this is what makes the difference with businesses; government regulations aren’t nearly as threatening as an angry population of consumers to big business.
So to the CDC and FDA workers, the answer is clear: Don’t act. Government regulation is not necessary for such a small amount of cases.
What is necessary is for the people to get angry and stay angry. What’s necessary is for the press to keep talking about this Chipotle crisis. What’s necessary is for people to assume Chipotle is too dangerous to touch with a 10 foot pole.
Make this Chipotle disaster out to be more than a small number of cases, and that small number will turn from some to none. Chipotle will actively work to keep the few that decide to brave the dangers, and work to return people to their menu.
Instead of demanding the government handles the situation, step up and take action yourself.