Chipotle labels all GM items on menu

As part of its "Food With Integrity" program, Chipotle this week posted information on its website identifying which items on its menu contain genetically modified ingredients.

The chain posted a chart noting that 12 out of 25 ingredients, including its rice, barbacoa, chips, chicken, vegetable fajitas, steak and flour tortillas (except in certain restaurants) use either genetically modified corn or soybean oil, the vast majority of which is derived from GM soybeans. The chain said that those ingredients are "currently unavoidable" but that it is "working hard" to eliminate them. .

Non GM items include carnitas, pinto beans, sour cream, salsas and cheese.

This move comes on the heels of Ben & Jerry's announcement that all of its flavors will be GM ingredient free by the end of the year and Whole Foods pledge to phase out all foods with GM ingredients by 2018.

Although GM crops (which are resistant to certain pesticides or carry a pesticide in their seed) are considered safe by federal authorities and are legal to plant and sell, some independent studies have linked them to health and environmental problems.

The announcements happen amid a flurry of state bills to require mandatory labeling of food with GM ingredients, including one in Illinois which had its first public hearing at Illinois State University in Normal this morning.

In more GM news, this afternoon the U.S. Senate passed a bipartisan amendment to require labeling of GM salmon as part of a 2014 Agriculture Appropriations bill. It will be heard on the Senate floor in coming weeks.

Overseas, where the labeling question is largely over, the GM debate rages over expanding GM crop planting approvals in the European Union. British Environment Secretary Owen Paterson spoke today in support of the expansion while spokesman for British Prime Minister David Cameron suggested that they be reviewed on "a case by case" basis.

Asked eight (or a dozen times depending on which paper you read) whether Cameron would eat GM foods or allow his children to eat them, the spokesman steadfastly declined to answer.