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Chipotle accused of hypocrisy

A pork industry leader says a major restaurant chain is guilty of hypocrisy.

Lori Stevermer is the outgoing Minnesota Pork Producers Association president and tells Brownfield she became frustrated with Chipotle’s decision to source pork from another country last summer.

“Chipotle had been criticizing U.S. farmers for using antibiotics and claimed they were getting meat from animals that hadn’t been fed antibiotics.  Then when that supply got short, they started to source pork from the U.K.  And oh by the way, that pork may have been fed antibiotics but it’s ok?  That just seemed like a double-standard to me.”

Stevermer says she used social media to reach out to Chipotle about the decision.

“Why could a farmer in the U.K. use antibiotics responsibly and sell his pork to Chipotle, but I in the U.S. couldn’t do that?”

Chipotle’s communications director replied to Brownfield’s request for an interview with a statement.

He said the restaurant didn’t have enough pork after suspending supplies from a domestic supplier because of animal welfare issues and turned to a supplier in the U.K. that more closely adheres to Chipotle’s protocols than domestic pork that is conventionally raised.

Chipotle has also been criticized recently for touting the benefits of its all-natural meat while being linked to an E. Coli outbreak in nine states.