Co-CEO apologizes over illnesses, vows Chipotle will be ‘safest place to eat’

Chipotle founder and co-CEO Steve Ells on Thursday apologized to patrons who fell ill after eating at the company’s restaurants, and pledged sweeping new food safety practices will prevent such outbreaks in the future. “This was a very unfortunate incident and I’m deeply sorry that this happened, but the procedures we’re putting in place today are so above industry norms that we are going to be the safest place to eat,” Ells said in an interview on NBC ’s Today program. Health officials said Wednesday 80 people had been sickened by norovirus linked to a Chipotle restaurant in Boston. The chain has been under scrutiny since November, when health officials first linked it to an E. coli outbreak, the firm’s third food-safety incident since August.