Jonathon Schuldt, a professor of communication at Cornell University focusing on health communication, says Chipotle’s decision to label its menu GMO free creates a health halo that leads consumers to see Chipotle in a “feel good” way that might not be based on facts.
Schuldt says: “Putting aside the matter of whether Chipotle’s menu is truly GMO-free, labeling it as such has as much to do with shaping perceptions as it does with reality.
“The company’s stated goal to sell ‘food with integrity’ hints at this: Science aside, large percentages of the American public are concerned or don’t know what to think about GMO food. Labeling food as GMO-free is a simple way to create a health halo that leads consumers to see Chipotle in all sorts of other, ‘feel good’ ways — like healthier and more natural — that might not really be justified based on facts.
“Even consumers who know little about the GMO debate might reasonably assume that GMO-free must confer multiple benefits, or else why would Chipotle bother taking up the cause?”
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