After a tough year that the company can’t seem to bounce back from, Chipotle is now facing legal woes over an allegedly misleading calorie count of a burrito that has been available on the chain’s menu since October. America’s former favorite fast food restaurant is being sued by three Los Angeles customers who purchased the chorizo burrito, a featured item that was advertised as containing grilled chicken, pork sausage, white rice, black beans, salsa, and cheese in a tortilla, proclaiming a 300 calorie count. As you can see in this tweet from back in October, people weren’t so sure about the “truth” Chipotle was advertising even before trying the new menu offering:
.@chipotle are you telling me this burrito has 300 calories? Can't be right. pic.twitter.com/KECCZ3nxgx
— scottweier (@scottweier) October 21, 2016
One might think this would be enough to make most informed consumers scratch their heads, as literally the Chipotle tortilla alone contains 300 calories. That wasn’t the case, however, as one of the men behind the class-action lawsuit, David Desmond, claimed that it only occurred to him that the burrito was more than 300 calories when he felt “excessively full” after eating it. (According to Chipotle’s online nutrition calculator, the burrito actually contains around 1,050 calories, which is standard of a Chipotle burrito.)
Chipotle later clarified in a response to a confused customer on Twitter that the 300 calories is for the chorizo alone, which makes much more sense. It seems pretty clear that the sign was a simple misunderstanding and not created of maliciously deceptive intent — because really, who the hell goes to Chipotle for a 300 calorie meal anyway? Unfortunately, this is a lesson the chain is going to have to learn the hard way. Bogus lawsuit or not, this is yet another unflattering story in a string of bad press for Chipotle.
