Judge Says Chipotle GMO Lawsuit Can Go Forward
April 20 2016 - 9:00PM
Dow Jones News
A lawsuit accusing Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. of deceiving
customers with claims that its food is free of genetically modified
organisms can move ahead, a federal judge has ruled.
The case, filed in U.S. District Court in the Southern District
of Florida in September and seeking class action status, claims
that Chipotle misled consumers in ads saying its food is GMO-free.
Chipotle's meat and dairy products come from animals that consume
genetically modified feed, the suit alleges. A Miami judge on
Wednesday rejected Chipotle's motion to dismiss the lawsuit. A
trial date is set for November.
"We generally don't speak to details of pending legal actions,
but don't believe there is any merit in these claims and will
contest them," Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold said.
The claims are similar to those laid out in another lawsuit
filed around the same time in U.S. District Court in the Northern
District of California, which was dismissed by a judge this month
after the plaintiff decided to withdraw. The plaintiff's lawyer in
that case couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Chipotle last year thrust itself into the controversy over GMOs
when it said it would become the first national restaurant company
to use only non-GMO ingredients.
In a statement on its website, Chipotle acknowledges that most
of the 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." The chain states that it has
been working to overcome that challenge, pointing to its grass-fed
beef.
The company also states on its website that many of the
beverages it sells contain genetically modified ingredients, such
as high fructose corn syrup, which it says is almost always made
from genetically modified corn.
Write to Julie Jargon at julie.jargon@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 20, 2016 20:45 ET (00:45 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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