Bean There, Done That: We reported late last year that members of Chipotle’s brass mentioned during an investor conference that they were upset with the piecemeal way the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was reporting to the public about the brand’s cases of E. coli (PRN, Dec 14 & 21, 2015). Apparently the burrito maker also put its complaint in writing. The CDC’s behavior “only acts to create public panic,” Chipotle attorney Corky Messner wrote in a Dec 21, 2015, letter to the CDC, Food Safety News reported May 6. Messner also accused the CDC of using inaccurate information in its reports and not following its own procedures. At the time, it seemed counterproductive to us for Chipotle to publicly tick off the regulatory agency that held the brand’s fate in its hands. In addition to investigating Chipotle, CDC was responsible for declaring the outbreak over, as it did in February. Anyhow, the CDC wasn’t about to let Chipotle get the last word. In a meticulously argued, six-page letter that’s denser than a Chipotle burrito, CDC’s Dr. Jeremy Sobel, associate director for epidemiological sciences, Division of Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (does that fit on his business card?), refutes Messner’s arguments point by point and includes numerous citations. In short (which CDC’s April 15 letter is not) CDC says it acted correctly and that there was “an ongoing threat.” – On the other hand, props to Chipotle for working hard to make things right. It’s assembling a food safety dream team, including former Food and Drug Administration official David Acheson, who’d been a critic of Chipotle’s early response to the E. coli outbreak. It also confirmed to Reuters it’s retained David Theno, a food safety heavy who’s credited with helping Jack in the Box bounce back following its E. coli bout in 1993.
chief Jamie Dimon
Dimon in the Rough: Speaking of senior execs saying questionable things, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boss Jamie Dimon’s short fuse is well known in the banking world, yet his calling the president/CEO of the Independent Community Bankers Association “a jerk” during a May 11 CNBC interview made headlines. The alleged jerk, Cameron Fine, had penned a response to Dimon’s April Wall St Journal op-ed suggesting large and small banks should cooperate. While the media furor subsided after 24 hours, such behavior sometimes sticks to a highly visible CEO’s reputation.
Track and Filth: With its Aug 9 opening approaching, things are getting interesting for the Rio Olympics. Forget sports, the next three months look to be a battle of communicators. Some say Rio isn’t safe due to the Zika virus, sewage in Guanabara Bay (where some sailing events will be held) and violence. The country’s leaders insist Rio is safe and visitors will find it charming. Adding to pro-Rio communicators’ jobs is the country’s awful recession and a corruption scandal that’s threatening to bring down the country’s president.
Happy Birthday: To ColorComm, the nation’s largest group for women of color in communications, which celebrated its 5th anniversary May 12 in D.C. Ogilvy global chair Chris Graves and APCO managing director Lisa Osborne Ross spoke.