The casual restaurant style and ambiance of Chipotle has revolutionized the fast food industry. The chain is associated with being a healthier option than typical fast food restaurants, earning the label “fast casual.” Fast casual restaurants are propelling the culture and identity of fast food from cheap and quick to health-conscious — but Chipotle isn’t always living up to those standards.

The most well-known and profitable fast casual restaurants are Panera, Chipotle and Panda Express, according to the Fast Casual website. In an interview with Fast Casual, Chipotle CEO Steve Ells said he believes the success of his business is due to their emphasis on quality ingredients.

“The fast food sector has traded food quality and taste for low cost and ease of preparation,” Ells said. “It has aggressively marketed low prices to entice customers to visit more often, which has resulted in the need to reduce costs by cheapening ingredients and by compromising the overall dining experience.”

Iconic brands like Taco Bell, Burger King and McDonald’s are attempting to revamp menu concepts and branding to recover from a decline in sales. Chipotle, on the other hand, is killing the game with strong sales. This is largely due to its consumer base. Millennials reported a 20 percent decrease in visits to traditional fast food chains, but 42 percent reported increased visits to fast casual restaurants in 2014, according to a study by Brand Keys. Generation Y has been shifting toward clean eating.

Clean eating is generally defined as eating more organic, fresh and whole foods while eliminating anything that is processed. Millennials tend to want well-balanced and various options for their daily meals. Because of exposé documentaries like “Food Inc.,” younger generations want to know where their food is coming from and are willing to pay more for better options.

While Americans are eating fast food that is of higher quality, it isn’t necessarily more healthy. Chipotle tacos and burritos are full of calories. Many of the food options are also high in sodium and saturated fat, which are both dietary influences on chronic disease.

In February 2015, The New York Times published research based on 3,000 random meals ordered at Chipotle, and determined that the average order contains 1,070 calories, 2,400 milligrams of sodium and 75 percent of the daily recommended intake of saturated fat. However, due to Chipotle’s flexible menu layout, it is easy to make calorie counts more reasonable.

Another issue of concern is Chipotle’s recent foodborne illness outbreak. Chipotle claims to follow integral sustainability practices, but its recent food safety scare contradicts some of their principles. Chipotle’s website states that the company is committed to serving food with integrity by sourcing the best ingredients and preparing them by hand, and because they “understand the connection between how food is raised and prepared, and how it tastes.”

However, Chipotle’s recent outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O26 shows a disregard for this relationship.

The objective of modern agriculture is to grow things bigger, better, cheaper and faster. Cows are fed corn to because it makes them get really fat at a low cost, but they are not designed by evolution to eat corn. These animals evolved to consume grass, and research indicates that a high corn diet results in E.coli that is acid resistant — something that can make its way into our food. This strain is a product of the diet the industry is feeding cattle on feedlots and it’s a product of feedlot life.

While Chipotle has taken precautions to restore its reputation following the outbreak, it is important to consider that the company is not the gold standard of nutrition, health and safety that it is made out to be.

Khija Rockett is a senior nutrition major. Her column appears weekly in Pulp. She can be reached at kmrocket@syr.edu or on Twitter @soulandhealth.

Published on April 19, 2016 at 8:08 pm