Yahoo Finance Chipotle menu is now GMO-free
Chipotle (CMG) is saying “no mas" to genetically-modified food.
The Mexican fast-food chain is removing all GMOs from its menu. While Chipotle has labeled food containing GMOs since 2013, it will become the first major chain to stop serving GMO products altogether.
The World Health Organization defines GMOs as “organisms whose genetic material (DNA) has been modified in a way that does not occur naturally.”
“We are changing the way people think about and eat fast food, and that means cooking with the very best ingredients – ingredients that are free of additives – but still serving food that is affordable, convenient, and most importantly delicious,” Steve Ells, founder and co-chief executive of Chipotle said in a statement. “That’s really unusual in fast food, but that’s the quest we are on, and we continue to make progress."
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Yahoo Finance’s Aaron Task points out that Chipotle has already created the perception that their food is healthier and better for you because they talk about how the food is sourced.
"I think that's a big reason why people go Chipotle now is they feel like they're getting healthier fast food, even if some of the analysis shows that in terms of the saturated fat and the sodium intake in Chipotle is no better, and in some cases worse, than other fast food,” he adds.
But Task doesn’t think the move to go GMO-free is going spark new traffic to its stores.
“It's hard for me to imagine if this is going to actually get new customers who haven't been going to Chipotle before to come to those stores,” he says. "I think that it maybe it is something that sends a message to the Chipotle consumer that 'Hey, we care about the things that you care about.'"
However, Task believes it could put pressure on other fast food chains to do the same.
“I think it'll start with the smaller chains the In and Outs, the Shake Shacks (SHAK) of the world might feel the pressure before you see McDonald's (MCD) or Burger King (THI.TO) or Wendy's (WEN) say 'OK we're going to do this as well.'
Chipotle notes in its statement that its move to use non-GMO ingredients did not result in significantly higher ingredient costs, and it did not raise prices as a result.
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