Chipotle Enlists Palantir on Food Safety Risks After Salmonella Outbreak - Newsweek

Chipotle is pairing up with Palantir, a data infrastructure company, to create a platform to monitor food safety risk across its restaurants.

The announcement comes after a concerning summer of foodborne illness saw thousands sickened across America from illnesses such as Cyclospora, Salmonella, and others. Produce items such as shredded iceberg lettuce and jalapeños were recalled nationwide, and the widespread impact and frequent occurrence of the outbreaks sparked concern among many about food safety in America.

The partnership with Palantir would create a food safety score for individual Chipotle locations, compiled from data such as health department reviews, pest incidents, and employee illness, WIRED reported.

“Chipotle is piloting a new Food Safety Risk Management Platform designed to provide a more consistent and centralized view of food safety risk across our restaurants," Chipotle Chief Corporate Affairs and Food Safety Officer Laurie Schalow told Newsweek. "The platform brings key information together in one place, enabling our teams to more effectively identify trends, prioritize follow-up and make proactive, data-informed decisions. This is another example of how we continue to invest in tools and technology that support our commitment to food safety.”

It was not immediately clear when the platform would launch or if consumers would be able to view a store's food safety score. Newsweek reached out to Palantir by email on Wednesday evening for comment.

Chipotle was not involved in the cyclospora outbreak.

Cyclospora is a parasite that infects a person's intestines and can cause cyclosporiasis, which is known for its hallmark symptom of explosive diarrhea. If left untreated, cyclosporiasis can persist for weeks.

People become infected after consuming food or water that has been contaminated by the parasite, which is shed through human stool.

Although it is not unusual for Cyclospora infections to be reported across the U.S. during the summer months, this year's outbreak was unprecedented, resulting in nearly 20,000 confirmed illnesses, more than 1,000 hospitalizations, and two deaths in Michigan.

Traceback investigations from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) led investigators to believe that Taylor Farms shredded iceberg lettuce processed in Central Mexico was behind the outbreak, although there was never a positive Cyclospora test. Taylor Farms recalled its impacted iceberg lettuce products from the market.

Since Chipotle doesn't offer shredded iceberg among its menu items, it was not affected by the recall. However, Chipotle did pull jalapeños from its menu in August after a "robust ingredient traceability system" linked jalapeños from a grower in Sinaloa, Mexico, to a potential salmonella outbreak.

Chipotle said it proactively removed the ingredient from its restaurants and replaced it with jalapeños from a different grower. Taylor Farms also recalled items because of the jalapeño Salmonella outbreak.

"The recalled jalapeño peppers are no longer in Chipotle restaurants and given these actions, the CDC and FDA have said they do not consider there to be a current ongoing risk from Chipotle restaurants in this outbreak," a statement from Chipotle said at the time.

While an official launch date of the new platform between Chipotle and Palantir has not been shared, the partnership could lead other major food retailers to consider similar initiatives amid heightened attention to food safety following the high-profile foodborne illness outbreaks that occurred this year.

Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here.

Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Samantha Beech and Gray R. Thomas