Chipotle: GMOs gone from our food

In an industry breakthrough, Chipotle has removed one of the things that consumers — particularly Millennials — want least in their food: GMOs.

The Mexican fast-casual dining chain on Monday announced that it has become the first national restaurant chain to use only non-GMO (genetically modified) ingredients. Co-CEO Steve Ells said the Denver-based chain has hit the goal not only at Chipotle Mexican Grills but also at the company's ShopHouse Southeast Asia Kitchen locations.

"There is a lot of debate about genetically modified foods," said Ells, 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. ... While that debate continues, we decided to move on non-GMO ingredients."

A GMO is an organism whose genome has been altered via genetic engineering to include one or more genes that wouldn't typically be found. Many food crops, including most corn and soybeans, are genetically modified to better fight off certain diseases or improve their resistance to herbicides.

The move by Chipotle comes as major restaurant chains and food makers are falling over themselves to remove ingredients that consumers — particularly younger consumers — don't want in their foods and beverages. Last week, PepsiCo announced that it was removing aspartame from Diet Pepsi. Earlier this year, McDonald's announced that over the next two years it will stop using chicken treated with antibiotics commonly used for humans.

Not yet included in Chipotle's GMO move are beverages. Most fountain drinks, for example, have ingredients that include GMOs, spokesman Chris Arnold said. He said that Chipotle is testing in Denver root beer from Maine Root, which is made with cane sugar and is non-GMO.

About 92% of consumers believe that genetically engineered food should be labeled, according to a 2014 poll by Consumer Reports.

Upwards of 80% of goods consumed in the U.S. contain GMO ingredients, primarily because about 94% of corn and 93% of soybeans grown in U.S. came from GMO strains in 2014, according to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service.

The Food and Drug Administration, which regulates food ingredients, continues to classify GMOs as safe. For years, activists groups, including the Center for Food Safety, have urged the FDA to limit or eliminate the use of GMOs.

Chipotle's move is "a very big deal," says Rebecca Spector, West Coast director at the Center for Food Safety. "They're setting an example for others that GMO-free can be done."

In March 2013, Chipotle became the first national restaurant chain to voluntarily disclose GMO ingredients and pledged then to move to non-GMO ingredients. Most of its use of GMO ingredients has been related to soybean oil used to cook chips and taco shells.

Ells says the move to non-GMO ingredients did not result in "significantly higher" ingredient costs, nor, he says, did the company raise prices.

Chipotle shares closed on Monday up 1%, or $6.25, at $643.75.