Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., dealing with an E. coli outbreak that has sickened dozens around the U.S., has tightened its supplier standards, putting its longstanding promise to buy food locally in jeopardy.
“We have elevated requirements for all of our produce suppliers (chiefly in the area of testing of ingredients) and we are not sure that all of the current local suppliers will be able to meet those elevated protocols,” Chris Arnold, a spokesman for the Denver-based company, said in an e-mail in response to questions from Bloomberg.
