Chicken & Rice Guys Trucks Return to the Road

A group of food trucks and restaurants beset by food safety concerns earlier this year returned its trucks to the road this week with new protections in place to ensure high standards of cleanliness. The Chicken & Rice Guys trucks are back in action, six months after the restaurants in Boston, Allston, and Medford resumed business following an incident where several reported E. coli cases were traced back to the chain’s Allston restaurant in April.

At the time, Chicken & Rice Guys temporarily shut down all operations to address the issue, working with Boston’s Public Health Commission to secure approvals and permitting to reopen. Staff members attended food safety meetings, and the Chicken & Rice Guys worked with an external food safety consultant to implement new measures to ensure food safety, including plans for an external auditing process with surprise inspections, as previously reported. The restaurants reopened quickly, but the trucks stayed off the road until now.

The trucks have specifically adopted new technology to allow employees to check food safety. The Chicken & Rice Guys have partnered with a health tech company called Vital Vio and will use the brand’s VioSafe antibacterial lights in the trucks to kill germs, on top of other existing cleanliness measures.

Look out for the Chicken & Rice Guys food trucks back in action around Boston and Burlington this week, serving up the company’s popular selection of rice and salad plates topped with halal chicken, a mix of beef and lamb, or other options.

Correction, 12:45 p.m.: This piece has been updated to clarify the use of the VioSafe antibacterial lights — they provide illumination as well as continuous killing of germs.

• The Chicken & Rice Guys Restaurants Have Reopened [EBOS]
• Chicken & Rice Guys Temporarily Closed for E. Coli Outbreak [EBOS]