Chipotle Class Action Challenges Burrito Calorie Counts

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Three Californians have filed a proposed class action lawsuit alleging Chipotle misleads customers with the calorie counts of their burritos on its menu boards and signage.

The proposed class action lawsuit was filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court Tuesday by plaintiffs David Desmond, Edward Gurevich and Young Hoon Kim and seeks to represent all individuals who purchased food at Chipotle for four years leading up to the filing of this complaint, My News LA reports.

According to the plaintiffs, Chipotle’s menu contains false nutritional information in which consumers are led to believe that the items they are eating are healthier than they actually are, though the burrito chain markets itself as a provider of “food with integrity” organic food items and “responsibility raised” meat as part of its promotion of a “healthy eating mantra.”

Based on its menu board, Desmond purchased a chorizo burrito at a Los Angeles Chipotle restaurant on Nov. 3 believing that it contained 300 calories, the lawsuit states.

But after eating his meal, Desmond “felt excessively full and realized that the burrito couldn’t
have been just 300 calories,” according to the Chipotle class action lawsuit.

That same week, Gurevich bought a chorizo burrito at the Chipotle location in Toluca Lake and also realized after eating it that had more than the 300 calories advertised, the lawsuit says.

On Monday, Kim consumed a chorizo burrito at the Chipotle restaurant on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles and noted a similar experience as the other plaintiffs that the 300-calories that the menu board stated the chorizo burrito contained was false, the lawsuit alleges.

The Chipotle class action further claims that information on the company’s website also contains misleading information about the calories in a chorizo burrito and other products.

The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified damages and an injunction preventing Chipotle from putting allegedly misleading information about the nutritional value of its products on its menu boards, website and marketing campaigns.

Chipotle has been hit with a series of lawsuits of late. Earlier this year, the restaurant came under fire after masses of sick diner became ill by salmonella, E. coli, and norovirus outbreaks stemming from food sold by the chain.

Originally faced with customer lawsuits, declining sales, and then a federal criminal investigation, the company’s own investors filed a class action lawsuit stating that Chipotle misled them about the company’s food safety measures.

Additionally, the restaurant chain is facing a class action lawsuit in Florida federal court by by customers who say they were deceived by claims that Chipotle’s food is free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Filed in September 2015 and given the go ahead to proceed as a class action in April 2016, that case says Chipotle misled consumers in ads saying its food is GMO-free when in fact it’s meat and dairy products come from animals that consume genetically modified feed.

The Mexican-grill chain is also currently facing a gigantic employee class action lawsuit in which nearly 10,000 current and former workers are suing the company for unpaid wages.

The Chipotle Calorie Count Class Action Lawsuit is David Desmond, et al. v. Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., Case No. BC640700, in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles.