What to know
- A Mississauga mom says her son found several sharp, plastic-like pieces in a Chipotle burrito bowl on July 17 after biting into one of the foreign objects.
- McKenzie contacted the Dixie Road restaurant and provided a sample, which she says a manager promised to send to a lab for testing. She also repeatedly followed up but was unable to get a clear update.
- Chipotle later told McKenzie it could not locate the original sample and that management at the restaurant had since changed. The company offered to send her a new package to provide another sample, but she declined.
- McKenzie says her main concern is finding out what the objects were and ensuring proper food-safety procedures are followed. Her son was not injured, but she says the sharp pieces could have caused serious harm if swallowed.
One GTA mom says she has been trying for weeks to find out what the sharp, plastic-like pieces found in her son’s Chipotle burrito bowl were, but the company located in Mississauga has told her they misplaced the sample she provided to them.
Melissa McKenzie told Now Toronto the incident happened a month and a half earlier, on July 17, after she picked up two burrito bowls from a Chipotle location at Dixie Road and Eglinton Avenue East in Mississauga.
After returning home, McKenzie said her son bit into his food and spat out a foreign object.
“My son bit down, didn’t know what it was at that time, and spat it out and showed me, and it looked like plastic,” McKenzie said.
She said she continued looking through the bowl and found several more pieces.
“Another piece came out. Put that one down. Started [sifting] through. Another piece came out,” she explained. “So, at that point, I was like, okay, we got to call Chipotle.”
McKenzie says she contacted the restaurant to explain what had happened, and says she was assured staff would remove the ingredients from the food line.
McKenzie admits she was disappointed that she did not initially receive an apology.
“I appreciate that you guys are taking it off of the line, but an apology would have been nice,” she said.
The restaurant then offered to replace her meal, but McKenzie said that was not her main concern, saying she was more worried about other young children getting hurt.
A manager at the Chipotle restaurant agreed to take the item and send it to a lab for testing. According to McKenzie, she was told after testing, the company would return the samples to her. Nearly two months later, she has yet to receive a response, even after repeated calls.
“I’ve been just following up every week, calling the store, following up,” she explained, adding that the manager would only say that the company is looking into it. McKenzie says she was never told who the sample was sent to or whether it was actually sent anywhere.
To this day, McKenzie still does not know what her son bit into, and to her, that’s most concerning.
She describes the pieces as hard and sharp, horrified by what could have happened if her son had swallowed one.
“They’re very sharp. That’s a concern for me,” she said. “What if it punctured the cheek or punctured the esophagus or anything like that?”
Thankfully, her son was not injured during the incident.
In an email to Now Toronto, Chipotle said they were aware of the incident and confirmed it’s looking into the situation.
“The health and safety of our guests is our number one priority. We are aware of the allegations and have reached out to the guest directly to investigate further,” Chief Corporate Affairs and Food Safety Officer Laurie Schalow stated.
What’s next for McKenzie
With her recent experience, McKenzie has become cautious about eating at the establishment again. The latest developments have only added to her frustration, as she still does not know what happened to the sample she provided.
For McKenzie, the main issue is finding out what the foreign objects were and ensuring the restaurant is following proper food safety procedures.
Instead of free food, McKenzie wants a proper investigation.
“This could happen to anybody,” she said. “Maybe it’s already happened to someone, and they’ve brushed it under the rug.”
She says the experience has affected her confidence in the company.
“It makes me lose faith in customer service in the organization, it’s a huge organization. They have so many locations, and it’s almost like it doesn’t matter to them that you’re just one out of how many millions of people that come and purchase their food,” she said.
As the investigation continues, McKenzie said she wants other customers to advocate for themselves if they encounter something similar.
“Do not just brush things under the rug. If you find something foreign in your food and it’s a concern for you, bring it to light, and don’t stop until you actually get the answers that you’re looking for,” she said.
She also wanted to highlight food safety at Chipotle locations.
“I want to bring awareness to them to handle their food properly and just ensure that you know you guys are practicing safe protocols,” she added.
