For those who do not dine at Chipotle on a regular basis, there are four different salsa types to choose from. You can have mild, fresh tomato; medium, roasted chili and corn; medium, tomatillo-green chili; and hot, tomatillo-red chili.
While people are fans of spice tend to opt for the tomatillo-red chili salsa, some people are claiming it’s getting hotter as time goes by. In fact, some are saying it’s too hot!
To get to the bottom of the accusations, the Wall Street Journal decided that it was time to investigate.
This is the type of hard-hitting journalism that we truly need during these trying times. Samples were taken from the Phoenix, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. locations and sent to a lab. The findings happen to be quite interesting.
According to the Wall Street Journal, all of the samples actually did vary in heat, ranging from 2,730-3,420 Scoville units. Chipotle told the Wall Street Journal that they first started getting comments about the spiciness of the salsa back in the fall of 2022.
The recipes that the company uses to create its salsa have not changed at all. However, the company is now obtaining its chilies from a wider range of areas. Mexico, India, and other parts of Asia are now included, which goes a long way toward explaining the change. As some astute readers may have already guessed, the supply chains were affected by the pandemic.
In addition to the pandemic-related concerns, bad weather has affected the crops that were normally used. When companies take the time to source fresh food, these are the concerns that tend to arise. The chilies that were sourced by India are said to be the hottest ones of all, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Anyone who can no longer handle the hottest salsa that Chipotle has to offer is being urged to select one of the other three options.