Chipotle Accused of Fibbing About Burrito’s Calories

David Desmond of California felt “excessively full” after he ate what he thought was a 300-calorie chorizo burrito from Chipotle. When he found out the burrito’s advertised 300-calorie count was just for the meat — and not the entire burrito — Desmond also felt tricked.

Now Desmond and two other calorie-counting Chipotle customers are suing the fast-casual Mexican chain for misleading consumers about the calorie content of its chicken and sausage burrito.

Chipotle’s menu boards list the chorizo burritos at 300 calories.

In reality, according to Chipotle’s nutrition calculator, a chorizo burrito — made with chorizo, white rice, black beans, fresh tomato salsa and a sprinkle of cheese, as Chipotle’s menu boards suggest — comes in at roughly 1,055 calories.

That’s more than triple the calories listed on the menu boards.

According to the lawsuit — which is seeking class-action status — Chipotle customers have been “lulled into a false belief” that Chipotle’s chorizo burritos are healthier than they really are.

When questioned by consumers on Twitter about the burrito’s actual calorie count, Chipotle has acknowledged that the chorizo alone accounts for 300 calories, Fortune reports. Chipotle communications director Chris Arnold tells Fortune:

“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. 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.”

Chipotle has been hard at work trying to woo hungry Americans back to its restaurants after foodborne illness outbreaks at the chain, including E. coli and norovirus, made several people sick in 2015.

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