Results for: labeling

Americans Deserve Better than the USDA’s GMO Labeling Law

The USDA issued its final rule for the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard (NBFDS) today, to be published in the Federal Register on December 21, 2018. The Non-GMO Project is disappointed by the content of the final rule, which jeopardizes GMO transparency for Americans. The NBFDS demonstrates that only the Non-GMO Project provides the transparent labeling consumers have been demanding for more than 20 years. In its current form, categorical exemptions prevent this law from delive... Read more

Report: Terminology proposed in USDA GMO labeling rule would confuse and mislead consumers

On May 3rd, the USDA released its long-awaited draft of a National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard, pursuant to a law passed in July 2016. While there are many aspects of the draft that warrant comment (check out our complete list here), one thing that is particularly outrageous is the terminology proposed. Under the proposed rule, it would become illegal to make a GMO disclosure using anything other than these two terms: bioengineered and "BE." In order to help establish just how mislead... Read more

Whole Foods Market GMO Labeling Policy Update

On May 18th, Whole Foods Market announced an update to its GMO Labeling Policy. Specifically, in light of the USDA’s recently released draft rule on a National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard, Whole Foods has paused its September 1, 2018 compliance deadline while remaining firm on its commitment to verification of non-GMO claims. The scope of the retailer’s original policy, announced in March 2013, was a requirement for suppliers of food products to label products that contain ... Read more

Non-GMO Project responds to new IGEN Program for non-GMO labeling

NutraSource Diagnostics’ program for vitamins and supplements could mislead consumers On Monday, NutraSource Diagnostics announced a new non-GMO labeling program for vitamins and supplements. Based on testing of finished products and ingredients, the program, called IGEN, has three tiers. In the absence of a published standard the technical details are vague, but the information available seems to suggest that the IGEN Program has critical shortcomings and could potentially mislead consumer... Read more

Flawed GMO Labeling Bill Signed into Federal Law

By Non-GMO Project Executive Director Megan Westgate. -- On July 29th, 2016, a historically discriminatory and fatally flawed mandatory GMO labeling bill was signed into federal law in the United States. The legislation, dubbed by opponents as “the DARK Act” originated from a motivation to preempt states’ ability to require meaningful GMO labeling. Below are our answers to common industry questions about the new legislation and its relationship to the Non-GMO Project. You... Read more

FDA Moves to Finalize Guidance on Voluntary GMO Labeling

Earlier this year, the FDA announced plans to finalize guidance on "Voluntary Labeling Indicating Whether Foods Have or Have Not Been Developed Using Bioengineering" (see 4.1.11 in the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) Plan for Program Priorities, 2013-2014). Given that the last draft of the guidance was issued nearly 13 years ago, based on focus group research from the year 2000, the appropriate action toward finalization would be for the FDA to update the guidance and ope... Read more

UN Commission Poised to Adopt New Labeling Guidelines for GMO Food

[caption id="attachment_3509" align="alignright" width="254"] Dr. Phil Bereano[/caption] By the close of its 39th session, the United Nations' Codex Alimentarius Commission was poised to adopt Labeling Guidelines for GMO foods that will provide some protection from the World Trade Organization for national-scale GMO-labeling programs around the world. The Non-GMO Project sponsored activist Phil Bereano's participation in this session, and in so doing helped to ensure that the voices of the Ac... Read more

More than 80 Groups Urge FDA and USDA to Change U.S. Position on Food Labeling

For Immediate Release Contact: Naomi Starkman Consumers Union nstarkman@gmail.com 917.539.3924-c Position Will Create Problems for American Producers to Label Products GM/GE-Free Upcoming International Codex Meeting to Discuss Food Labeling, May 3 Yonkers, NY—Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, and more than 80 farmers, public health, environmental, and organic food organizations today sent a letter to Michael R. Taylor, Deputy Commissioner for Food at th... Read more

The Non-GMO Shopper

More shoppers than ever are looking for non-GMO choices when shopping According to the Hartman Organic and Natural Report 2018 consumer awareness of GMOs is almost universal with 97% of consumers aware of GMOs. As consumer awareness has grown an increasing amount of shoppers have begun seeking to avoid GMOs. Hartman reports that 46% of shoppers deliberately avoid GMOs when shopping. What does this mean for you as a retailer? It means that there is huge value in bringing awareness to the non... Read more

The World’s First GMO Salmon is Coming to America

On March 8, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lifted its ban on the import of the genetically modified AquAdvantage salmon created by AquaBounty Technologies. The FDA initially approved this GMO for human consumption in 2015, but Congress required the FDA to halt imports of the fish until appropriate GMO labeling guidelines could be established. The FDA announced that this congressional mandate has been fulfilled through the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard (NBFDS), which... Read more