Chipotle Lawsuit Accuses Eatery of Continuing to Use GMOs in Food

Chipotle responded to a lawsuit condemning the company for serving genetically modified organisms (GMOs) on Monday, maintaining that it would staunchly defend itself and its highly publicized “G-M-Over it” campaign in the face of controversy.

The case, Gallagher vs. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., which was filed in California on Friday, accuses the company of lying and falsely advertising in the campaign, claiming that the chain’s meat products still come from GMO-fed animals. The suit also accuses Chipotle of getting its cheese and dairy products from farms that feed their animals GMO products, according to the New York Daily News.

“Consumers today are very concerned about what they eat, and restaurants know that consumers place a premium on food that is considered to be healthy or natural,” said lawyer Laurence D. King in a statement. “As a result, 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.”

In response, Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold issued a statement on Monday that refutes the lawsuit’s claims, declaring that the company would stand by its campaign, according to Ad Age.

“This lawsuit is meritless, and the complaint against Chipotle is filled with inaccuracies. Chipotle has always been honest and transparent with its customers, and the messaging surrounding our use of non-GMO ingredients is no exception,” the statement read.

Arnold declared that Chipotle had always been upfront in admitting that its soft drinks contain GMO ingredients, such as corn syrup and, while he further admitted that the animals from which Chipotle’s meat comes are fed on GMO feed, the animals themselves are not genetically modified, according to Ad Age.

“As we have said, it remains true that all of the ingredients we use to make our food are non-GMO. We will vigorously defend this meritless and unfair claim,” Arnold’s statement read.

Colleen Gallagher, a plaintiff in the case, still maintains that Chipotle’s advertising campaign is willfully misleading its customers who are unlikely to see the company’s Internet disclaimers, and thus will ignorantly consume GMO-influenced food products, according to Fox News.

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