‘GMO-free’ Chipotle sued for serving soft drinks, meat, dairy linked to crop biotech

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Colleen Gallagher filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California on behalf of all California consumers who bought food from Chipotle charging Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. with making false and misleading claims by saying its menu is free of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs.

In April, Chipotle launched a multimedia campaign pronouncing its menu free of GMOs at U.S. locations. In the lawsuit, which seeks unspecified monetary damages, Gallagher argues that Chipotle’s claims are false and misleading because the chain continues to serve meat and dairy products from animals that feed on GMOs. Chipotle also sells soft drinks that are made with corn syrup, which is a genetically modified ingredient, the lawsuit claims.

“Chipotle’s advertising in its stores should have accurately informed customers about the source and quality of its ingredients and should not mislead consumers that they are serving food without GMOs when, in fact, they are,” said Laurence King, an attorney for the proposed class.

Chris Arnold, Chipotle communications director, said the company does not discuss pending legal actions. However, he added, “We do plan to contest this.”

As part of the April announcement, Chipotle said, and continues to say on its website, that most animal feed in the U.S. is genetically modified, which means the meat and dairy served at Chipotle came from animals that were given at least some GMO feed. “Many of the beverages sold in our restaurants contain genetically modified ingredients,” the company states.

The lawsuit, however, charges that Chipotle “takes no meaningful steps to clarify consumer misconceptions in its advertisements… which instead say ‘all’ of the ingredients used in its food products are ‘non-GMO,’” the complaint said.

Read full, original post: Chipotle lawsuit contests GMO-free claim

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