This fall, customers who have eaten at some the burrito chain Chipotle's restaurants have been experiencing a bit old-fashioned "food poisoning" caused by eating foods contaminated by non-genetically modified versions of the E. coli bacteria. The company notoriously adopted an anti-science position earlier this year when it declared that it was going "GMO-free," by which it meant that it would no longer serve foods made using ingredients derived from safe modern biotech crops.
To its credit the company has taken numerous steps to clean up its food supply chains and protect customers from the illness. The source of the outbreaks, however, has not yet been identified. Now Mike Adams, the nutcase behind the Natural News website and supplement distributor, now shares his theory. Here's the headline:
After observing recent events involving Chipotle and e.coli, here's my analysis of the situation: Chipotle's e.coli outbreaks are not random chance. They are the result of the biotech industry unleashing bioterrorism attacks against the only fast food company that has publicly denounced GMOs. …
NaturalNews
There is absolutely no question that the biotech industry will resort to ANY activity necessary to destroy food companies that oppose GMOs. And yes, this includes acts of bioterrorism against Chipotle -- something that's ridiculously easy for biotech industry operatives to carry out with simple, low-cost laboratory supplies sold online at places like Amazon.com. …
I am now openly encouraging Chipotle's management to initiate a criminal investigation with the FBI to attempt to identify the sources of this corporate sabotage campaign.
To be clear, what's really happening at Chipotle is that biotech industry shills are deliberately contaminating Chipotle's food with strains of e.coli in a malicious attempt to destroy both the reputation and finances of the Chipotle food chain.
Adams might want to be careful about asking for an FBI investigation. Last year, Adams was reportedly being investigated by the FBI himself on suspicion of having created the Monsanto Collaborators website. The website explicitly compared researchers and journalists who accept the broad base of evidence supporting the safety of modern biotech crops to Nazi murderers. Speaking about "resorting to ANY activity necessary," the Monsanto Collaborators site declared:
MonsantoCollaborators
Parallels to the Nazi regime are numerous. GMOs, after all, are genetically engineered to either grow poison in the plant or to resist deadly poisons sprayed on the crops. In both cases, GMOs expose the public to toxic, cancer-causing chemicals that kill people just as effectively (although not as quickly) as Zyklon B. The Nazi Regime was also steeped in the use of deadly chemicals to accomplish its goals, and just like the biotech industry, the Nazis weren't afraid to use human subjects as guinea pigs in large-scale medical experiments…
…it is the moral right — and even the obligation — of human beings everywhere to actively plan and carry out the killing of those engaged in heinous crimes against humanity.(emphasis his)…
Interestingly, am I currently in France, so when I sought to find updates to any FBI investigation of Adams, I found this notice at the bottom of my search page:
Some results may have been removed under data protection law in Europe. Learn more
Those who erase history are bound to …..
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"I am now openly encouraging Chipotle's management to initiate a criminal investigation with the FBI to attempt to identify the sources of this corporate sabotage campaign."
Me too!
Luddites making asses of themselves in public is always amusing.
I had to attend a birthday party at a bowling alley for a four year old recently. I was not one of the principal parties involved so I mostly just observed. It was a pretty good microcosmic view of the human race.
The boy's father was responsible for arranging and paying for the party. He also ran around thee whole time making sure everything went smoothly. He brought the food, was a go-between with the staff when the lane quit working, he made sure all the little kids got their turns, etc. It was quite a task.
His wife and the boy's grandfather helped out some. When the alley said their card machine quit working and they would only take cash he tried getting money out of the ATM but it had run out of money so I went down the street and got cash, loaning him the money to pay the alley.
Most of the other adults were just there to be fed and entertained. They took up chairs and ate cake and pizza that the father had bought. The children behaved terribly. They ran up and down the walkways, cried over who was bowling, and engaged in all kinds of oppositional behavior.
There you have it folks. A few people make things work in spite of the world and everyone else. Some are moderately productive while most are just along for the ride. A few are actively attempting to sabotage everything.
Mike Adams and the anti-GMO people are the equivalent of the four year olds lying on the lane and screaming so that no one else can bowl.
Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded ? here and there, now and then ? are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.
Hey WTF, did you convince your wife to let you get a '94 Winchester?
I have a dozen of them. I looked up prices yesterday. They have all tripled in value in less than 10 years. I paid $400 for a few rifles that are worth 1500 or so now. I am in shock. Also, I can't bring myself to sell any. If I do that the money will evaporate and I won't have the gun or the money and chances are I will never have one like it again.
I am in shock too. I was thinking they would be in the $600 range, but they're actually more in the $1K range or more. I am thinking I will just get one for myself and not tell her what they actually cost.
Good plan. when I buy new ones I sneak them in the house and throw them in the pile with all of the others. Shuffle them up a bit and no one but me knows there is one more in there.
An old guy I see down at my range recently had some great advice on hiding new purchases in plain sight.
His brother, apparently, is a compulsive gun buyer with a critical wife, who fortunately doesn't know a whole lot about handguns, so, what he does is fits one of those bright green rubber grips to any new purchase he gets, and reminds everyone that his 'green gun' is his carry piece.
He has about 6 green guns at any one time, and as long as he doesn't put two or more in the same place around the house, his missus never figures out it's a new purchase,
I like the anecdote. And i think there's wisdom in the second-to-last line.
The last one though i think is imperfect. Mike Adams et al in the business of flogging fear in order to help sell Snake Oil know exactly what they're doing. They're the equivalent of TV-ministries. You can point out how ridiculous and silly they are, but millions of people take them seriously, and spend billions of dollars annually on their merchandise and their media. The anti-GMO industry exists because consumers WANT to believe that they're "making better choices" than the mainstream-consuming masses. All Mike is doing is helping these people believe what they want to believe.
I was thinking mostly of his fellow travelers that sabotage GMO crops and actively try to shut down research in the field. He is part of that crowd even if he just caters to them. He would help them achieve their ends if he could.
If he's too drunk to know where he is, he's probably in Ireland. Unless his pants are missing, then he's in Scotland. If he's too drunk to know where he is, his pants are missing and he's chained to the wall, we all know where he is.
Never ate at one.,I like the places in my area that are locally owned by Mexicans.Great food,prices and service Just wondering,is all their veggies so called 'organic',raised with manure? If so,no wonder they have problems.
I went in wanting to get a cheese quesadilla for my youngins. They didn't have one. We left and I didn't see anything that made me want to return. If I want fast food 'Mexican' I go to Moe's.
Chipotle was the top of that list, even before they started serving e.Coli to their customers based on scientific phobias.
The fact that they refuse to address or change the source of the problem because they care more about the upscaled prices that little "organic" sticker bring them says everything.
Never had a bad meal in the one in Marietta or Parkersburg..Nice people too. I never eat at chains.Marietta has several good local places. Chains suck..Any time I travel I look for local places to eat. Pittsburg has some great ones.
Where my sister lives there is a authentic mexican restaurant just two blocks from their Chipoltes, Her and her brood are damn near scandalized that I'll eat lunch at the former which is usually only moderately busy (mostly mexican customers) The Chipoltes? a line out the door, people are stupid.
I find that bewildering, even though I have seen with my own eyes, lines to the door and beyond at a Chipotle's. I don't even like to drive by one after high school lets out.
Don't. Chipotle blows unless you like overpaying for a bland-as-fuck pile of rice and beans. Qdoba ain't the shit or anything but it kills Chipotle all day long. I mean if you made a list of places like that, with Baja Fresh and the like, Chipotle is solidly at the bottom of the list.
Honestly, if I'm looking for a quick bite to eat and I want something spicy, I'll go to Hotheads instead of Chipotle. It's right there on the way home from the gun range, so it has become kind of a range day tradition for me to eat a Hotheads burrito and then clean my guns.
My neighbor's baby-sitter's brother's boss' father-in-law's friend's cousin actually knows somebody who works for Natural News and he said it was Mike Adams himself who planted the e. coli as a false flag operation. True story.
"To its credit the company has taken numerous steps to clean up its food supply chains and protect customers from the illness."
Chipotle ignored obvious, endemic supply chain/handling issues, and down-played the problem once exposed. No evidence of massive ingredient recalls and only a few stores closed.
I'm assuming the political connections runs deep - any other major chain who continued to operate would have been forcibly closed by State and Federal authorities.
I am a little puzzled by all this. How many outbreaks have they had now? Who thinks it is a good idea not to jump on a problem like that and take care of it before it happens again, which certainly will happen if nothing is done?
How much will they end up paying out over this? Looks like corporate suicide to me.
I am rather fond of their food but if it turns out they're making their customers sick because of their politics I think I'll pass. For now I reserve judgement (and probably won't eat there....)
One of the trade journals I read yesterday featured a quote from their food safety/consultancy group CEO touting the improved testing and training systems. It's unheard-of for an independent testing service to make such statements in the midst of an outbreak.
Hey they love mother earth,They are tying to stop 'climate change',fight GMO's,hell,their the 'good guys'..So what if a few plebs get sick or die.They think right.
From what I've read, the main problem is that they didn't fire cooks who skipped washing their hands. Duck 21st Century food handling practices, they appear to be Germ Theory deniers as well as GMO Luddites.
As I've said before, I'm rooting for Chipotle. As someone with a soy allergy, "GMO free" means that because non-GMO soy is practically unavailable (certainly not in sufficient quantities or at low enough prices to supply a national food chain), that means Chipotle is one of only two fast food restaurants where I can eat like a normal human being.
That having been said, it doesn't appear that going GMO free is the real culprit at Chipotle.
The problem seems to derive from sourcing things locally. It's much easier to keep your contamination quality controls absolute when you only have a few processing centers that distribute your ingredients to stores nationally. When you start sourcing ingredients locally, that means your quality controls have to be consistent across hundreds of different locations nationally--and that's what appears to be the problem.
Sourcing ingredients locally, in the marketing, I think, is often as much about trying to combat global warming as anything. They want to lessen their carbon footprint by limiting the number of trucks driving around the interstates. Regardless, not every issue that comes up in the news is about our pet issues, and we need to stay conscious of that. Just like not every hurricane, flood, tornado, blizzard, or heat wave is further evidence of climate change, it may be that not every E. Coli outbreak is a direct result of going "GMO free".
I don't believe anyone here is stating GMO's prevent E. coli. Chipotle's anti-GMO, natural, no-preservative stance is certainly anti-science. Local sourcing is primarily "hype" for Chipotle - their issues are caused by avoidance of proven preservation tools throughout the supply chain, limited/poor food quality and safety programs, and employee handling issues (also likely related to inadequate food safety programs).
Regarding GMO-free equating to soy-free - this isn't the case. Although the vast majority of US soy is GM, both domestically-produced and internationally-sourced non-GMO soy options are available and cost-effective enough to be used throughout the food supply (primarily in organic/natural channels). Chipotle's tofu Sofrito's are an example.
"Chipotle's anti-GMO, natural, no-preservative stance is certainly anti-science."
Or pro-consumer.
If that's what their customers want, for whatever qualitative reasons, then whether it's scientific is beside the point.
Generally speaking, people don't pick between Chipotle and their competitors for scientific reasons, and pretending they do or denigrating Chipotle for serving the personal preferences of their marginal customers is irrational.
"Local sourcing is primarily "hype" for Chipotle"
Local sourcing isn't hype if that's what they're actually doing relative to their fast food competitors. It's product differentiation, and if it gives them a competitive advantage with their marginal customers, then it isn't hype at all. It's profit.
"Regarding GMO-free equating to soy-free - this isn't the case. Although the vast majority of US soy is GM, both domestically-produced and internationally-sourced non-GMO soy options are available and cost-effective enough to be used throughout the food supply (primarily in organic/natural channels)."
Soy's primary use is often as soy meal in animal feed--with the oil being a secondary bonus. That's why it tends to be cheaper than other oils--it's practically a byproduct of making animal feed. The oil is processed on an industrial scale to make it edible for humans.
If Chipotle could get GMO free soybean oil in sufficient quantity at its normal byproduct price, they'd use it. They can't, so they don't--and they don't use it nationally. Almost all of their national competitors use soybean oil for everything because it's cheaper than everything else.
The author should know better than to argue that opposing GMO makes one "anti-science." Science doesn't know everything and never will. It is a great tool for learning about the universe, but it will never have every answer. Furthermore, testing of commercial products is often limited and biased. We don't have all the answers on GMOs yet, by a long shot.
Says the organic zealot arguing with a straight face that the latest in a LONG line of organic e.Coli outbreaks are magically somehow due to GMO sabotage.
Yeah...this guy is wack job too https://youtu.be/xKcjT5QK3Lg Glyphosate targets good bacteria in the human gut resulting in disruption of immune system function. Cancer can result.
I love how "leftist publishers" are supposedly part of Monsanto's wicked cabal. My experience is that most of the opposition to Monsanto comes from the left.
Tonio! Our ship has come in, man!
Think of the foil sales we can make to the readers of Natural News and Monsanto Collaborators!!
W00t! Great idea, Switzy. [hums "We're in the Money"]
"We're in the Money"
Libertarian Ear-Worm!
Check the biotech employment records against the no-fly list.
I wonder what it's like living with that kind of delusion. Is it reassuring or does it just raise stress levels.
Being that unhinged has to be stressful. Although they do say ignorance is bliss.
Apparently he's making a living off of it.
"I wonder what it's like living with that kind of delusion"
Profitable.
You can always tell they're legit when they use bold
If Mike Adams felt that what he was writing was worth bolding, it must be true.
"I am now openly encouraging Chipotle's management to initiate a criminal investigation with the FBI to attempt to identify the sources of this corporate sabotage campaign."
Me too!
Luddites making asses of themselves in public is always amusing.
Wow, I didn't know Chipotle had the power to initiate criminal anything...
Of course, Switzy, but the rubes don't know that.
I had to attend a birthday party at a bowling alley for a four year old recently. I was not one of the principal parties involved so I mostly just observed. It was a pretty good microcosmic view of the human race.
The boy's father was responsible for arranging and paying for the party. He also ran around thee whole time making sure everything went smoothly. He brought the food, was a go-between with the staff when the lane quit working, he made sure all the little kids got their turns, etc. It was quite a task.
His wife and the boy's grandfather helped out some. When the alley said their card machine quit working and they would only take cash he tried getting money out of the ATM but it had run out of money so I went down the street and got cash, loaning him the money to pay the alley.
Most of the other adults were just there to be fed and entertained. They took up chairs and ate cake and pizza that the father had bought. The children behaved terribly. They ran up and down the walkways, cried over who was bowling, and engaged in all kinds of oppositional behavior.
There you have it folks. A few people make things work in spite of the world and everyone else. Some are moderately productive while most are just along for the ride. A few are actively attempting to sabotage everything.
Mike Adams and the anti-GMO people are the equivalent of the four year olds lying on the lane and screaming so that no one else can bowl.
Relevant, I think:
Yes however your species has become far more adept at running your productive class down wherever they might flee to.
Hey WTF, did you convince your wife to let you get a '94 Winchester?
I have a dozen of them. I looked up prices yesterday. They have all tripled in value in less than 10 years. I paid $400 for a few rifles that are worth 1500 or so now. I am in shock. Also, I can't bring myself to sell any. If I do that the money will evaporate and I won't have the gun or the money and chances are I will never have one like it again.
Buy one. If nothing else it is a good investment.
I am in shock too. I was thinking they would be in the $600 range, but they're actually more in the $1K range or more. I am thinking I will just get one for myself and not tell her what they actually cost.
Good plan. when I buy new ones I sneak them in the house and throw them in the pile with all of the others. Shuffle them up a bit and no one but me knows there is one more in there.
An old guy I see down at my range recently had some great advice on hiding new purchases in plain sight.
His brother, apparently, is a compulsive gun buyer with a critical wife, who fortunately doesn't know a whole lot about handguns, so, what he does is fits one of those bright green rubber grips to any new purchase he gets, and reminds everyone that his 'green gun' is his carry piece.
He has about 6 green guns at any one time, and as long as he doesn't put two or more in the same place around the house, his missus never figures out it's a new purchase,
Invite these kids next time.
FREE RONGE CHILDREN ARREST PARONTS!!11
Just kidding.
I lived in Farmland, JP, last year and would not be terribly surprised to see this.
My latest observations of mated bipedal mammals would support your data. And the females are humorless, asexual, growmahluggers
I like the anecdote. And i think there's wisdom in the second-to-last line.
The last one though i think is imperfect. Mike Adams et al in the business of flogging fear in order to help sell Snake Oil know exactly what they're doing. They're the equivalent of TV-ministries. You can point out how ridiculous and silly they are, but millions of people take them seriously, and spend billions of dollars annually on their merchandise and their media. The anti-GMO industry exists because consumers WANT to believe that they're "making better choices" than the mainstream-consuming masses. All Mike is doing is helping these people believe what they want to believe.
I was thinking mostly of his fellow travelers that sabotage GMO crops and actively try to shut down research in the field. He is part of that crowd even if he just caters to them. He would help them achieve their ends if he could.
Mike Adams is insane. I don't say that as a perjorative. I mean he's an undiagnosed schizophrenic.
At what point does he go full Dexter.
Interestingly, am I currently in France,...
I don't know, Ron. Are you? And if you are, is it for a new travel book?
/juvenile teasing
If he's too drunk to know where he is, he's probably in Ireland. Unless his pants are missing, then he's in Scotland. If he's too drunk to know where he is, his pants are missing and he's chained to the wall, we all know where he is.
Warty's basement?
Damn you!!11!!!
HAHAHAHAHA!
Warty's?
Warty's home?
This guy thinks he's helping Chipotle by spreading rumors that it's under bioterrorism attack? With friends like that...
Yeah, he's clearly engaging in policy contrary to stated self-interest.
Never ate at one.,I like the places in my area that are locally owned by Mexicans.Great food,prices and service Just wondering,is all their veggies so called 'organic',raised with manure? If so,no wonder they have problems.
I went in wanting to get a cheese quesadilla for my youngins. They didn't have one. We left and I didn't see anything that made me want to return. If I want fast food 'Mexican' I go to Moe's.
Moe's is the bottom of the fast food Mexican. Qdoba and Chipotle are both superior.
Salsarita too, and I dont care for them.
I am not arguing that it is fine dining.
Qdoba was much too salty the one time I ate there, years ago.
Never had Moe's but I can't imagine anything being worse than Chipotle.
Not even fucking close.
Chipotle was the top of that list, even before they started serving e.Coli to their customers based on scientific phobias.
The fact that they refuse to address or change the source of the problem because they care more about the upscaled prices that little "organic" sticker bring them says everything.
Find yourself a pupuseria.
FOR REAL!
I prefer the nameless, chinless mom and pop operations. The food is genuine Mexican, and damned good. I am not a big fan of chain food places.
They each have their place. Sometimes I want predictability rather than hit-or-miss.
Never had a bad meal in the one in Marietta or Parkersburg..Nice people too. I never eat at chains.Marietta has several good local places. Chains suck..Any time I travel I look for local places to eat. Pittsburg has some great ones.
Where my sister lives there is a authentic mexican restaurant just two blocks from their Chipoltes, Her and her brood are damn near scandalized that I'll eat lunch at the former which is usually only moderately busy (mostly mexican customers) The Chipoltes? a line out the door, people are stupid.
I find that bewildering, even though I have seen with my own eyes, lines to the door and beyond at a Chipotle's. I don't even like to drive by one after high school lets out.
Well, they do quesadillas now.
Love Chipotle.
Don't. Chipotle blows unless you like overpaying for a bland-as-fuck pile of rice and beans. Qdoba ain't the shit or anything but it kills Chipotle all day long. I mean if you made a list of places like that, with Baja Fresh and the like, Chipotle is solidly at the bottom of the list.
I find this baffling because every "real" Mexican meal I have had is blander than anything I've had at Chipotle. Could be the region, I dunno.
You need to go to Aurora, IL or Elgin, IL then.
Say what? Pilsen or GTFO!
Honestly, if I'm looking for a quick bite to eat and I want something spicy, I'll go to Hotheads instead of Chipotle. It's right there on the way home from the gun range, so it has become kind of a range day tradition for me to eat a Hotheads burrito and then clean my guns.
My neighbor's baby-sitter's brother's boss' father-in-law's friend's cousin actually knows somebody who works for Natural News and he said it was Mike Adams himself who planted the e. coli as a false flag operation. True story.
But how much does he make per hour working from home?
"Who was the bastard who gave you a quarter?"
"All of them."
"To its credit the company has taken numerous steps to clean up its food supply chains and protect customers from the illness."
Chipotle ignored obvious, endemic supply chain/handling issues, and down-played the problem once exposed. No evidence of massive ingredient recalls and only a few stores closed.
I'm assuming the political connections runs deep - any other major chain who continued to operate would have been forcibly closed by State and Federal authorities.
I am a little puzzled by all this. How many outbreaks have they had now? Who thinks it is a good idea not to jump on a problem like that and take care of it before it happens again, which certainly will happen if nothing is done?
How much will they end up paying out over this? Looks like corporate suicide to me.
Chi-Chi's went down on an e. coli outbreak.
I had always wondered about that. I liked that chain.
Hepatitis - 4 deaths! (looking at wikipedia here)
Interestingly, they were already circling the drain before that happened.
Also, Jack-in-the-Box.
Jack-in-the-Box, like Abe Vagoda, lives on.... http://www.jackinthebox.com/
I am waiting for a Chief Risk Officer seppuku.
I am rather fond of their food but if it turns out they're making their customers sick because of their politics I think I'll pass. For now I reserve judgement (and probably won't eat there....)
CDC data as-of Dec 18, and a new outbreak this week. Also, this does not include the Boston outbreak, which was Norovirus.
http://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2015/o26-11-15/map.html
One of the trade journals I read yesterday featured a quote from their food safety/consultancy group CEO touting the improved testing and training systems. It's unheard-of for an independent testing service to make such statements in the midst of an outbreak.
Now with Epi Curves. Who knew?
It's refreshing to see CDC doing their fucking job for a change, instead of spewing bullshit about soda or vaping or whatnot.
Hey they love mother earth,They are tying to stop 'climate change',fight GMO's,hell,their the 'good guys'..So what if a few plebs get sick or die.They think right.
#ChipoltleIngredientsMatter
Fecal matter?
...form crony relations with Big Eraser?
White Out PAC?
School-To-Eraser-Clapping pipeline?
Those who erase history are bound to .....
Not be embarrassed by autocomplete results?
+One......legged albino midget transvestite
I don't come to your home and tell you how to get off.
That picture of Mike Adams makes it look like he's got a carrot up him, and he likes it a lot.
An organic carrot, man.
He grows carrots in his own shit?
SUSTAINABLE!
From what I've read, the main problem is that they didn't fire cooks who skipped washing their hands. Duck 21st Century food handling practices, they appear to be Germ Theory deniers as well as GMO Luddites.
The war in Afghanistan follows Obama to his vacation in Hawaii
I realize one could take the headline as "poor Obama", but when I first read it hit me like "Obama fiddling while Afghanistan burns."
We all see the outrage we came in with, the current trigger of the outrage doesn't matter.
How the hell did this get here?
Beamed over?
He is the kwisatz haderah,he can be in many places at once.
+1 blast o' melange
OT: More power for the EPA.
http://thehill.com/policy/ener.....ety-reform
Watersheds are part of the problem!
I am acquainted with several "Monsanto be de DEBBIL!" types, but as far as I am aware, none of them are plotting assassinations. Yet.
BTW,no,they are not taking steps to cure the problem,Firing managers,cooks,higher ups and buying better supplies would be taking steps. GMO forever!!!
As I've said before, I'm rooting for Chipotle. As someone with a soy allergy, "GMO free" means that because non-GMO soy is practically unavailable (certainly not in sufficient quantities or at low enough prices to supply a national food chain), that means Chipotle is one of only two fast food restaurants where I can eat like a normal human being.
That having been said, it doesn't appear that going GMO free is the real culprit at Chipotle.
The problem seems to derive from sourcing things locally. It's much easier to keep your contamination quality controls absolute when you only have a few processing centers that distribute your ingredients to stores nationally. When you start sourcing ingredients locally, that means your quality controls have to be consistent across hundreds of different locations nationally--and that's what appears to be the problem.
Sourcing ingredients locally, in the marketing, I think, is often as much about trying to combat global warming as anything. They want to lessen their carbon footprint by limiting the number of trucks driving around the interstates. Regardless, not every issue that comes up in the news is about our pet issues, and we need to stay conscious of that. Just like not every hurricane, flood, tornado, blizzard, or heat wave is further evidence of climate change, it may be that not every E. Coli outbreak is a direct result of going "GMO free".
I don't believe anyone here is stating GMO's prevent E. coli. Chipotle's anti-GMO, natural, no-preservative stance is certainly anti-science. Local sourcing is primarily "hype" for Chipotle - their issues are caused by avoidance of proven preservation tools throughout the supply chain, limited/poor food quality and safety programs, and employee handling issues (also likely related to inadequate food safety programs).
Regarding GMO-free equating to soy-free - this isn't the case. Although the vast majority of US soy is GM, both domestically-produced and internationally-sourced non-GMO soy options are available and cost-effective enough to be used throughout the food supply (primarily in organic/natural channels). Chipotle's tofu Sofrito's are an example.
"Chipotle's anti-GMO, natural, no-preservative stance is certainly anti-science."
Or pro-consumer.
If that's what their customers want, for whatever qualitative reasons, then whether it's scientific is beside the point.
Generally speaking, people don't pick between Chipotle and their competitors for scientific reasons, and pretending they do or denigrating Chipotle for serving the personal preferences of their marginal customers is irrational.
"Local sourcing is primarily "hype" for Chipotle"
Local sourcing isn't hype if that's what they're actually doing relative to their fast food competitors. It's product differentiation, and if it gives them a competitive advantage with their marginal customers, then it isn't hype at all. It's profit.
"Regarding GMO-free equating to soy-free - this isn't the case. Although the vast majority of US soy is GM, both domestically-produced and internationally-sourced non-GMO soy options are available and cost-effective enough to be used throughout the food supply (primarily in organic/natural channels)."
Soy's primary use is often as soy meal in animal feed--with the oil being a secondary bonus. That's why it tends to be cheaper than other oils--it's practically a byproduct of making animal feed. The oil is processed on an industrial scale to make it edible for humans.
If Chipotle could get GMO free soybean oil in sufficient quantity at its normal byproduct price, they'd use it. They can't, so they don't--and they don't use it nationally. Almost all of their national competitors use soybean oil for everything because it's cheaper than everything else.
Ken, you can always be counted on to type twenty pages of pure idiocy.
The author should know better than to argue that opposing GMO makes one "anti-science." Science doesn't know everything and never will. It is a great tool for learning about the universe, but it will never have every answer. Furthermore, testing of commercial products is often limited and biased. We don't have all the answers on GMOs yet, by a long shot.
After reading some of the comments of pro-GMO folks here, I have say I have never seen such a large school of red herring.
People who believe in reason--as I do--should do a better job of reasoning.
Or maybe you should stop confusing your solipsistic idiocy with "reason".
Says the organic zealot arguing with a straight face that the latest in a LONG line of organic e.Coli outbreaks are magically somehow due to GMO sabotage.
Any more raging anti-science cliches you want to spout to prove how not anti-science you are?
Moron.
Yeah...this guy is wack job too https://youtu.be/xKcjT5QK3Lg Glyphosate targets good bacteria in the human gut resulting in disruption of immune system function. Cancer can result.
I love how "leftist publishers" are supposedly part of Monsanto's wicked cabal. My experience is that most of the opposition to Monsanto comes from the left.