Ohio Sen. Willis E. Blackshear, Jr. (OH-6) claimed he ordered three tacos from the Chipotle location on West Dorothy Lane in Moraine on November 16. Upon returning home for his meal, he said he found what he described as a screw after taking his first bite.
Blackshear posted a Facebook update on November 16, tagging Chipotle and asking the company to “explain why I had a screw in my taco.”
The picture he shared showed a single soft taco resting in unwrapped aluminum foil, with a small silver screw visible among the various ingredients like lettuce, cheese, and tomatoes. “This is ridiculous and I have to go to the dentist because of this!” Blackshear concluded his post.
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“First, I thought it was like a bone or something because it was like a hard crunch,” Blackshear told WDTN. “Once I spit it out, I came to realize that it was a screw, so of course I was horrified when I seen that.”
On November 17, Blackshear reportedly visited the dentist, who allegedly determined he had sustained a bruise to his tooth. Following the alleged incident, he filed a police report with the Moraine Police Department and submitted a complaint to Public Health – Dayton & Montgomery County. Chipotle later contacted Blackshear after he informed the company of the alleged events.
“We had a very good extensive conversation about the situation, so I’m actually glad we were able to connect to talk about this issue,” said Blackshear.
In response to inquiries regarding potential measures to prevent recurrence, Blackshear stated that the company promised to contact him in the coming days.
“So, I should be receiving a phone call from somebody within the next couple of days.
WDTN reached out to Chipotle for comment on the situation, and received the following statement from Laurie Schalow, Chief Corporate Affairs and Food Safety Officer of Chipotle:
“The health and safety of our employees and guests is our top priority. We have spoken directly with the Senator to make it right.”
“The inspection report acquired by WDTN indicates that the restaurant location was visited by an environmental health specialist on Nov. 17. In the report, the specialist ‘observed the screw for the drain in the veggie prep sink to be missing.'”
Additionally, the health specialist instructed the person in charge at the restaurant location to ensure the screw was replaced.
Blackshear told WDTN that he hopes to draw attention to his experience, aiming to prompt changes that would simplify the process for reporting similar food safety incidents.
“This is something that, from a legislative perspective, that I will be looking into, because there is no reason why some of these things should be in place that makes it sort of harder for people to report incidents like this from happening,” Blackshear said.
Blackshear told Dayton Daily News he was unsure if there was foul play involved.
“I’m not saying it was either-or, it’s just something to think about, especially with the political climate, you just don’t know,” he said.
“It’s a serious issue,” he added. “It could happen to anybody. And it has probably happened to somebody, but they didn’t know what the process was or what they could do.”
The Democratic senator stated his injuries included some tooth cracking and mostly bruising, though his dentist has thankfully found no long-term nerve damage.
“I am okay, but I’m very disappointed,” he said, adding he probably won’t be eating at Chipotle again. “This can happen to anybody. It’s just so much red tape you have to go through to get a sense of help, which is very frustrating.”
