The Center for Consumer Freedom continued its Chubby Chipotle campaign against Chipotle’s food misinformation with a new “Dihydrogen Monoxide” ad in the New York Post. The ad calls out Chipotle for scaring the public and tricking people into thinking its burritos are healthier by advertising its meat as being “antibiotic-free,” meaning from animals raised without antibiotics.
But Chipotle is trying to have its pork and eat it, too. This year the burrito chain began sourcing pork from Europe that comes from animals that may have been given antibiotics.
The instance is one more example of Chipotle deception and attempts to abuse consumers’ lack of familiarity with food production. The use of antibiotics is strictly controlled by federal regulations. If a farmer uses antibiotics to prevent or treat sickness in an animal, regulations ensure that food from that animal is safe. The federal government mandates a withdrawal time for drugs so that animals can eliminate them from their bodies. The government conducts random testing of meat to ensure safety, and can stop meat from being sold that doesn’t pass muster. As veterinarian Dr. Scott Hurd has put it in regards to meat: “It’s all antibiotic free.” Even Chipotle now admits this—on its website, after running misleading ads that scare consumers.
“Consumers shouldn’t let Chipotle trick them into thinking their burritos are healthier by saying they’re antibiotic-free, because federal regulations are designed to ensure all meat served in restaurants and sold in supermarkets is antibiotic-free,” Will Coggin, director of research at the Center for Consumer Freedom, said. “Chipotle not only denigrates U.S. farmers who humanely use antibiotics to prevent or treat illness, but it uses scare tactics to take advantage of consumers.”
