The retailers who started the Non-GMO Project were motivated by a simple idea. They believed that consumers in North America should have access to clearly-labeled non-GMO food and products, now and in the future. That conviction continues to be the guiding mission of the Non-GMO Project, but it’s a lot easier said than done! A huge part of the challenge is that by the time the Project was created, GMOs had already been in production across the U.S. and Canada for close to 10 years. Contamination risks to seeds, crops, ingredients and products had been steadily increasing without any standardized set of best practices in use to identify and stop contamination. But whereas this difficult reality had previously paralyzed all efforts to address the problem, the Non-GMO Project took a different approach. We decided that the lack of a perfect solution was no excuse not to try, and we believed that with enough hard work and collaborative spirit we could improve the situation, rather than allowing it to worsen. Our efforts are paying off, and while our work on the Project’s consensus-based Standard and independent Product Verification Program continues to be incredibly complex, we have succeeded in establishing an industry-wide system for addressing contamination and a “Non-GMO Project Verified” seal will start appearing on products in stores this fall.

So what does “Non-GMO Project Verified” mean? First of all, we want you to understand what it doesn’t mean. It is not a guarantee that the product is 100% GMO free. The reason for this is that our program is process-based, using a set of best practices to avoid contamination. We do require testing of all ingredients (everything being grown in GMO form in North America), but we don’t require testing of every single finished product. Instead, testing can be done at any one of a number of places in the production chain, for example right after harvest. Following the test, which must indicate that the ingredient is below 0.9% GMO (in alignment with laws in the European Union), we require rigorous traceability and segregation practices to be followed in order to ensure that the tested ingredients are what get used in the product. So in short, what our seal means is that a product has been produced according to rigorous best practices for GMO avoidance, including testing of risk ingredients. Companies enrolled in the Non-GMO Project are serious about keeping GMOs out, and work hard to do so. While you might see other claims regarding GMO status (e.g. “GMO free”), these are really not legally or scientifically defensible, and they are not verified by a third party. The Non-GMO Project is the only organization offering independent verification of testing and GMO controls for products in the U.S. and Canada. Buying products that are enrolled and verified in our program is the best way to support the sustained availability of non-GMO choices in North America. As a non-profit organization, we are committed not only to verifying and labeling products, but also to supporting and coordinating efforts between seed breeders, farmers, processors and manufacturers. With time, these efforts will allow us to protect and even expand the availability of non-GMO seeds, ingredients and products.

Please sign our Consumer Pledge to show your support!

If you have questions, please let us know. We love hearing from you and are happy to help in any way we can.