It has not been the best of times for many students’ favorite lunch destination: Chipotle. The faux-Mexican food chain has seen a number of E. coli and salmonella outbreaks in the last couple of months, raising major public health concerns across the nation.

The scandals have caused dozens of locations to close in Oregon and Washington, and as a result, the company’s stock has dropped by around 5 percent. Meanwhile, McDonald’s, one of Chipotle’s prime competitors, recently posted its strongest numbers in two years.

Perhaps scariest of all is that in August, nearly 100 diners and several employees at a Chipotle chain in Oregon and Washington contracted norovirus, prompting questions about the risk of dining at the beloved restaurant. But are Chipotle’s recent outbreakss really something most of us need to worry about?

Definitely not. After all, after over 900 tests on Chipotle equipment in Oregon and Washington restaurants, no E. coli has been found. Additionally, since the outbreaks, 25 ingredient samples have been tested for E. coli, with none of them testing positive. It appears that Chipotle’s outbreak was an unlucky, isolated incident that should not prevent customers in other regions from dining at the restaurant.

In fact, Chipotle is so sure that its customers should not fear the E. coli incident that they have stated that they will likely be reopening their currently closed restaurants in the near future. A restaurant chain as prosperous and successful as Chipotle would never risk having its customers get E. coli. As far as Chipotle is concerned, the coast is clear to eat its food.

While simply eating at Chipotle should not raise concerns, the company’s misleading branding might. The incidents have raised some larger underlying questions about Chipotle’s practices.

What makes this series of food contamination outbreaks so ironic for Chipotle is that the company markets itself as a quick-service restaurant that, unlike other fast-food joints, serves clean, healthy food. On Oct. 15, Chipotle even tweeted the statement, “Instead of using real corn, typical fast food serves up Maltodextrin. Who’s down for some Maltodextrin on the cob?” implying that Chipotle wrongfully places itself on a pedestal as the ultimate provider of clean food.

Additionally, Chipotle’s aggressive attempts to package itself as a restaurant completely free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are misleading for the unsuspecting consumer — a recent report by Eater.com shows that meat and dairy served at Chipotle are likely to come from animals given at least some GMO feed. On top of all of this, the company’s claims of using “real” ingredients doesn’t necessarily mean Chipotle is a healthier option for consumers: A report done by the Atlantic in February shows that eating two McDonald’s Big Macs is actually less caloric than an average meal from Chipotle.

So while Chipotle’s E. coli, salmonella and norovirus incidents may be chalked up to a case of bad luck rather than something indicative of larger problems in the chain, Chipotle ought to brand itself more truthfully in order to value its customers’ best interests and ensure its future success.