One of the fastest growing food chains in the country is making headlines after announcing it would be pulling carnitas from the menus of at least 600 restaurants nationwide.

Chipotle Mexican Grill announced the change after discovering that a pork supplier was not in compliance with its animal welfare standards.

Both the Erie Boulevard East and Marshall Street Chipotle restaurants are among the locations that have temporarily dropped carnitas from the menu.

Chris Arnold, a Chipotle spokesman, said in a Jan. 13 article by The Associated Press that the restaurant had learned of the supplier’s violation through a routine audit, and since then, one-third of total restaurants nationwide have stopped serving pork carnitas.

Arnold also mentioned the requirements for how the pigs have to be raised. He said Chipotle requires that its pork “comes from pigs that are raised with outdoor access or in deeply bedded pens, and without the use of antibiotics.”

Although Chipotle employees in Syracuse were unable to comment on the matter, many students had varied perspectives on the story.

For some customers at Chipotle, this change will go almost unnoticed, as they rarely order pork. Komal Safdar, a senior biochemistry major at Syracuse University, said that even though she has never ordered the pork, it gave her a new respect for the chain.

“I like to know what I am putting into my body and knowing that Chipotle is sticking to its standards for high quality meat makes me want to eat there more and support the business,” Safdar said.

Maddie Damm, a sophomore in SU’s College of Arts and Sciences, said that she agrees with Chipotle’s decision to pull pork from the menu and that it will not affect her decision to eat there. Damm said that she doesn’t personally know a lot of people who get pork anyway, so she thinks business will stay the same.

According to Chipotle’s website, the restaurant believes in raising animals humanely, the way animals were raised before huge factory farms changed the industry. “We believe pigs that are cared for in this way enjoy happier healthier lives and produce the best pork we’ve ever tasted,” its website said.

Brittany Anghel, a former Syracuse University student who graduated last year with a major in exercise science, said that Chipotle’s food integrity policy is a positive part of the Chipotle experience.

“They use suppliers who treat their animals well with respect to their living conditions and diet,” Anghel said. “As far as I know, they do the same thing with their vegetables, using mostly organic products which translates into better food for their customers.”

Said Anghel: “I will definitely to continue to support Chipotle because they’re one of the few large industries that stands for producing food that is honest.”

Published on January 21, 2015 at 12:01 am