Mexican Restaurant Gives Customer “Bloody” Diarrhea, Then Offers Free Food As Apology

Frederico’s Offers Free Food After Battles With E. Coli

In an interesting twist, the Mexican restaurant Federico’s offered free food to its customers as an apology to poisoning them with bacteria. A customer who ate at the restaurant had to be administered into the hospital after having severe stomach problems. After 73 other customers came down with the same problems, a lawswuit was filed against the company for harming its customers. After health department officials did some digging, they found that Federico’s had an E.coli outbreak in it’s foods and was distributing it to its customers.

In July, Jeanene Fowler with the Maricopa Department of Health confirmed that the number of cases related to an outbreak of “bloody diarrhea” linked to a Federico’s Mexican Restaurant in Litchfield Park has affected 22 more people, bringing the total number of cases to 74.

According to reports, several children required hospitalization, blood transfusions and dialysis.

Federico’s owners said the restaurant has since gotten a clean bill of health from Maricopa County and worked with the “Queen of Clean” Linda Cobb to work on cleaning protocols, a news release said.

So in an attempt to clear their image, the restaurant is giving away free food as a marketing ploy to keep their customer base. On September 16th, they offered their customer a choice of a free breakfast or lunch. Both options included a burrito, which was the exact item that gave their customers upset stomachs.

Additionally, Frederico’s will be inviting “The Queen of Clean”, or Linda Cobb, who was on the Oprah show and helps companies to disinfect their business and keep it clean from any potential food related issues.

This is all a tactic to try and encourage the customers that they should come back to Frederico’s and that their restaurant is safe. The question over the next few months will be whether or not it was enough.

On The Web:
Mexican restaurant offers free burritos after poisoning 74 customers with E. coli
http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/205691/mexican-restaurant-offers-free-burritos-after-poisoning-74-customers-with-e-coli/

Federico’s restaurant reopens after E. coli outbreak
http://nrn.com/food-safety/federico-s-restaurant-reopens-after-e-coli-outbreak

Federico’s Mexican Food Offering Free Burritos for That Whole Bloody-Diarrhea Outbreak Thing
http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2013/09/federicos_mexican_food_offerin.php