You may have seen a “Chorizo Burrito” on Chipotle’s menu board labeled with the words “300 calories,” but what you may not have known is that the 300 calories only refers to the chorizo—not the rest of the burrito.
In reality, the entire burrito actually comes out to about three times that amount. Discovering that information is what led three Chipotle (CMG) customers to sue the Tex-Mex chain, My News LA reports. They have filed a class action lawsuit claiming that Chipotle is misleading its customers to believe that its food is much healthier than it really is. If the suit is successful, it would apply to anyone who has purchased food from Chipotle in the four years prior to the complaint.
The three customers who filed the lawsuit aren’t the only ones who have been skeptical about the 300-calorie claim. A handful of people who have seen the board at Chipotle have contacted the company through Twitter to ask about it. Each time, Chipotle replied by saying that the “300 calories” only refers to the chorizo.
.@chipotle are you telling me this burrito has 300 calories? Can't be right. pic.twitter.com/KECCZ3nxgx
— scottweier (@scottweier) October 21, 2016
I'm sorry for the confusion, but we'll make things more clear next time. The 300 calories is for the chorizo. -Gabe
— Chipotle (@ChipotleTweets) November 8, 2016
That the burrito costs more than 300 calories may not be obvious on Chipotle’s menu board, but its website provides a nutrition calculator for customers to use. A chorizo burrito with just white rice and black beans comes out to 930 calories.
“As a matter of policy, we don’t discuss details surrounding pending legal action. I will note, however, that a lawsuit is nothing more than allegations and is proof of nothing,” Chipotle communications director Chris Arnold told Fortune. “Generally speaking, we always work hard to maintain transparency around what is in our food, including the nutritional content, which is provided on an ingredient-by-ingredient basis.”
However, the lawsuit argues that the menu board isn’t very transparent and instead “consumers are lulled into a false belief that the items they are eating are healthier than they really are.” The plaintiffs are seeking damages, as well as an injunction that would ban Chipotle from labeling its food products with misleading nutritional information.
