Too hot to handle

Too hot to handle: Competency constrains character in Chi-Chi’s green onion crisis

Veil, S. R., Liu, M., Erickson, S. L., & Sellnow, T. L..

Public Relations Quarterly, (2005) 50(4), 19-22.

Abstract:

The article discusses the publicrelations response to a health crisis at a Chi-Chi's restaurant in Pennsylvania. Boxes of green onions used in salsa was packed in ice infected with the Hepatitis A virus, which led to the worst food-borne outbreak in the history of the United States. More than 660 people became ill and 3 died, compounding problems for Prandium Inc., Chi-Chi's parent company, which was already declaring bankruptcy at the time. The article details the publicrelations effort to maintain corporate legitimacy during the crisis