Chipotle faces pork shortage

No carnitas for you!Chipotle on High St. Across from OSU pic.twitter.com/Wff6icuwtJ

— JD Malone (@J_D_Malone) January 14, 2015

Sorry, carnitas lovers. You might not be able to get your favorite choice of meat at the nearest Chipotle until further notice.

When the Mexican fast-food chain learned of its pork supplier’s violation of standards concerning housing for pigs, it stopped serving pork at some 600 restaurants across the country for the first time.

Chipotle prides itself on serving environment-friendly and natural foods under its “Food with Integrity” program, demanding suppliers who practice responsible farming and raising animals naturally with a vegetarian diet.

Chris Arnold, a spokesman for Chipotle, told the Associated Press that the chain does not know when pork will return to the affected locations, which are about a third of its restaurants.

Chipotle routinely visits its suppliers’ facilities, announced and unannounced, under the California Transparency in Supply Chain Act of 2010. The company learned of the pork supplier’s violation last Friday through a routine audit.

“This is fundamentally an animal welfare decision and it’s rooted in our unwillingness to compromise our standards where animal welfare is concerned,” Arnold told The Washington Post.

But many raised concerns about growing national chains like Chipotle and how much longer they can uphold uncompromising standards. In 2013, Chipotle started serving “conventionally raised beef” instead of “antibiotic and hormone-free beef” when it faced a shortage. Conventionally raised beef, according to Arnold, passes animal welfare standards, while conventionally raised pork does not.