uThe Chipotle Carnitas Shortage Of 2015 Will End Soon, Company Saysr

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  (Kerry Lannert)

  It’s been seven months since Chipotle stopped working with one of its pork suppliers over a violation of its company standards, pulling carnitas from around a third of its restaurants across the country. Chipotle now says things are up and running with the new supplier it found in April, thus, effectively ending the rolling pork blackouts in many places.

  In April, the chain said it wasn’t sure when the protein would be available again. But the meat is back on the menu in many locations, the company says in a post on its site about pork and its new supplier, as UK–based Karro Food has started supplying Chipotle with “responsibly” raised pork.

  Though animals in Europe may be treated with antibiotics by a vet when necessary for health reasons, which could be seen as a conflict for Chipotle and its anti-antibiotic stance, the company explains that it’s confident in how the supplier uses those drugs, and that there will not be any trace of them in meat by the time consumers eat it.

  “Our decision to source pork from this new supplier does not mean that Chipotle’s animal welfare protocols are changing at this time,” the company says. “While we prefer to buy pork raised entirely without antibiotics, we are proud to be serving pork from Karro because the responsible way Karro uses antibiotics is consistent with their extremely high animal welfare standards.”

  There’s a list of 26 states where carnitas is available in all locations: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Washington (state), Wisconsin and Wyoming.

  Then there’s a slew of states where some cities will have carnitas, while others will have to wait for the time being: California (Northern California: Fresno area, Monterey and all points north); Florida (All locations except Destin); Indiana (All locations except Aurora, Evansville and Richmond); New Jersey (All locations except Cherry Hill, Deptford, Marlton, Moorestown, Mt. Laurel, Sicklerville, and Voorhees); New York (All locations except Amherst, Cheektowaga, Hamburg, Niagra Falls, Rochester, Tonawanda, Webster, and Williamsville) and Texas (Only available in El Paso).

  “If it’s not available near you, rest assured that our teams are working hard to get it back into those restaurants as soon as possible,” Chipotle’s site says. “Please check back periodically for further updates or contact our customer service team for details.”

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist