Denver-based fast-food chain Chipotle Mexican Grill began reopening 43 restaurants in Oregon and Washington state today that were closed last week after an E. coli outbreak left about 45 people ill.
While the source of the outbreak has not been determined, many in the restaurant and food industry are wondering if they are prepared for a similar incident.
“The concern for food safety continues to grow as our global economy creates demand for more food to be shipped internationally,” said Ian Harrison, a partner at Kansas City, Mo.-based insurance brokerage giant Lockton Cos. “Contaminated food can have a devastating effect on food processors, restaurants, and their customers.”
About 48 million cases of foodborne disease occur in the U.S. each year, sending about 105,000 people to the hospital and resulting in 2,000 deaths, the Associated Press reported, citing figures from the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control. That's about one in seven people in the country getting sick from food every year.
Foodborne illnesses are primarily caused by one of five pathogens:
- Salmonella
- Campylobacter
- Listeria monocytogenes
- Toxoplasma gondii
- Norovirus
Related: Applebee's is in the E. coli cross hairs ... again
A microbiologist points out an isolated E. coli growth on an agar plate from a patient specimen at the Washington State Department of Health Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2015, in Shoreline, Wash. (Photo: Elaine Thompson/AP Photo)
Economic impact
Some studies have estimated the economic cost of these illnesses at $14 billion dollars a year. Not only do restaurants lose money from temporarily closing locations and returning their customers to health, if they are part of a larger chain, damage can be incurred to the trade name.
“The owners of the trade names place a large effort into training and auditing their corporate locations and those franchisees using the logo to ensure a consistent product,” Harrison said, “But mistakes happen, and when they occur, the whole chain is adversely affected.”
Harrison has just published a white paper, “Serving Up Safeguards Against Foodborne Illness.” In it, he describes what underwriters are offering as part of a comprehensive income protection insurance policy as well as incident response and loss mitigation services.
Chipotle has announced several new efforts to improve food safety, including testing fresh produce, raw meat and dairy items before they arrive in restaurants, the Associated Press reported.
"We have also retained two of the nation's best food-safety scientists to work with us to assess practices and find additional areas for improvement," Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold said. "We are leaving no stone unturned in terms of finding ways to improve upon our practices."
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