Chipotle is the first to adopt this policy saying that food with GMO hasn't been proven safe for consumption and the environment. "There is a lot of debate about genetically modified foods," said Steve Ells, Chipotle's founder, chairman and co-chief executive, in a statement.
"Though many countries have already restricted or banned the use of GMO crops, it's clear that a lot of research is still needed before we can truly understand all of the implications of widespread GMO cultivation and consumption," he said. "While that debate continues, we decided to move to non-GMO ingredients."
Genetically Modified Food
Genetically modified food and genetically modified organism (GMO) is the altered genetic material (DNA) in food or organisms, which does not occur naturally.
Advertisement
The fast-growing Chipotle Mexican Grill, which has built its brand on "food with integrity", began disclosing the presence of controversial GMO ingredients in its food in March 2013, and promised to eliminate all of them.
The company announced Monday that it had achieved that goal in its 1,800 restaurants, including both Chipotle and its ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen chain.
![GMO-Free Cheerios Promised by General Mills]( "GMO-Free Cheerios Promised by General Mills")
Producer General Mills, in an answer to the growing customer concerns, recently announced that Cheerios will not be made with any genetically modified ingredients
The company said government data shows that 94 percent of corn and 93 percent of soybeans grown in the US came from GMO strains in 2014, making it difficult for consumers to avoid consuming genetically engineered foods in restaurants or buying them at the grocery store.
Much of Chipotle's GMO use involved soybean oil, which it has now replaced with sunflower oil to cook its chips and taco shells, and rice bran oil for all other uses. None of the commercially available sunflower and rice bran oils are made with GMOs, it said.
The company also replaced GMO ingredients in its corn and flour tortillas with non-GMO alternatives. The Denver, Colorado-based company said the move to non-GMO ingredients did not significantly raise ingredient costs or force price-rises.
Chipotle also said it was moving toward removing the few remaining artificial ingredients from its menu, only found in its tortillas, such as preservatives and dough conditioners. Ells said that goal would be difficult to reach but new tortilla recipes were showing promise. Last week Chipotle posted $122.6 million in first-quarter earnings, a jump of 48 percent from a year ago.
But it forecasted slower sales growth for the full year, in part due to shortages of its popular pork carnitas dish since Chipotle suspended a pork supplier earlier this year over "inhumane" practices.
Shares in Chipotle were up almost one percent at 643.80 in morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange.
Source: Medindia
GMO-Free Cheerios Promised by General Mills
Producer General Mills, in an answer to the growing customer concerns, recently announced that Cheerios will not be made with any genetically modified ingredients
Advertisement
The company said government data shows that 94 percent of corn and 93 percent of soybeans grown in the US came from GMO strains in 2014, making it difficult for consumers to avoid consuming genetically engineered foods in restaurants or buying them at the grocery store.
Much of Chipotle's GMO use involved soybean oil, which it has now replaced with sunflower oil to cook its chips and taco shells, and rice bran oil for all other uses. None of the commercially available sunflower and rice bran oils are made with GMOs, it said.
The company also replaced GMO ingredients in its corn and flour tortillas with non-GMO alternatives. The Denver, Colorado-based company said the move to non-GMO ingredients did not significantly raise ingredient costs or force price-rises.
Chipotle also said it was moving toward removing the few remaining artificial ingredients from its menu, only found in its tortillas, such as preservatives and dough conditioners. Ells said that goal would be difficult to reach but new tortilla recipes were showing promise. Last week Chipotle posted $122.6 million in first-quarter earnings, a jump of 48 percent from a year ago.
But it forecasted slower sales growth for the full year, in part due to shortages of its popular pork carnitas dish since Chipotle suspended a pork supplier earlier this year over "inhumane" practices.
Shares in Chipotle were up almost one percent at 643.80 in morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange.
Source: Medindia
Food Environment Must be Changed So That People Automatically Make Healthy Choices
Unfortunately, public health messaging focuses on maintaining a 'healthy weight' through calorie-counting but it is the source of the calories that matters.
Advertisement
 'Burritos Not Bullets' Campaign Prompts US Fast-food Chain to Say No to Guns in RestaurantsPopular US fast-food chain Chipotle made an unusual request at a burrito restaurant, asking customers to leave their guns at home after some showed up carrying assault rifles over the weekend. | Advertisement
|
Advertisement
Recommended Reading
Latest Environmental Health
Climate change caused raise in fatal bacterial infection by Vibrio vulnificus from about 10 a year to about 80 over 30 years along the U.S. East Coast.
Air pollution is a major global threat. Scientists have developed a new device to measure the air quality.
Trichloroethylene (TCE), a common dry cleaning chemical is more likely to increase Parkinson's disease risk.
Adopting strict measures against flu, COVID-19, plague, rabies and respiratory tract infections can help eliminate the threats of epidemics in Turkey's earthquake zone.
Watch out: Tiny environmental plastic particles in mother's food can reach the growing fetus in the womb.