7 September 2015
Four months later…Chipotle is being sued in a class action suit claiming that Chipotle has been using GMOs in their food despite advertising that is is GMO-free.
Eater: Chipotle Sued for Using GMOs After Declaring It’s Food GMO-Free
Last week the fast food Mexican restaurant Chipotle announced that they were “the first to cook only with non-GMO ingredients.” They did a great job educating their customers about GMOs at www.chipotle.com/gmo. They even said, in a big headline, “CHIPOTLE SHOULD BE A PLACE WHERE PEOPLE CAN EAT FOOD MADE WITH NON-GMO INGREDIENTS.”
But is it so?
First I want to say that I love Chipotle. The food tastes great and the ingredients are a lot better than other fast food restaurant chains. www.chipotle.com/food-with-integrity
And they have done a lot to remove GMOs from their food.
But no, you can’t walk into Chipotle and choose anything off the menu and have it be GMO-free.
About their GMO Ingredients they say:
The meat and dairy products we buy come from animals that are not genetically modified. But it is important to note that most animal feed in the U.S. is genetically modified, which means that the meat and dairy served at Chipotle are likely to come from animals given at least some GMO feed. We are working hard on this challenge, and have made substantial progress: for example, the 100% grass-fed beef served in many Chipotle restaurants was not fed GMO grain—or any grain, for that matter. www.chipotle.com/ingredient-statement
And then there are the sodas, made with GMO corn syrup.
Kudos to Chipotle for reducing their GMOs, and kudos for disclosure, but it’s deceptive to advertise they are gmo-free when they are not. And the disclosure was on a completely different page from the GMO claim.
As a consumer, I would have preferred a headline like “Chipotle Takes Another Big Step Toward GMO-Free” and then state what they did and what they are still working on.
Thanks to Max Goldberg for this consumer alert: Don’t Believe the Hype: Chipotle is NOT 100% GMO-Free.
