Popular Japanese fast-food chain closes thousands of restaurants

A global Japanese restaurant chain appears to have a very big health and safety problem involving potential infestations.

Apr 1, 2025 - 18:10
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Popular Japanese fast-food chain closes thousands of restaurants

Back in 2015 Chipotle had an E. coli scandal that literally threatened to put the company out of business.

In a single year, the company's stock fell 37% and its profit plummeted.

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"The fourth quarter of 2015 was the most challenging period in Chipotle's history," Chipotle Chief Executive Steve Ells said in a statement at the time.

So, you would have to assume that the Mexican chain had a widespread outbreak that impacted hundreds, maybe even thousands, of stores and that it handled that outbreak poorly. In reality, that was not the case. 

The Chipotle case involved 1,100 people getting sick over a three-year period between 2015 and 2018.

When the various stores (about 60) had reported incidents of people being sick, they were immediately closed for half a day for a deep cleaning. Once it was clear the issue was not isolated, the company shut down the entire chain in order to conduct more training and enact new procedures.