News + Updates

NON-GMO PROJECT STATEMENT ON USDA APHIS’s DECISION TO DEREGULATE GMOs
June 8, 2020 - News

Late on Friday afternoon, May 18, 2020, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced a significant change in how it regulates genetically modified organisms and genetic engineering, even as dozens of new, unregulated, untested and unlabeled GMOs are entering the food supply. APHIS’s framework has always been a very narrow scope of regulation on GMOs. It focused on Agrobacterium, a plant pest that has been used to create GMOs. APHIS has decided this regulatory ... Read more

In A World of Connections, What’s Your Butterfly Effect?
May 12, 2020 - Blog, homepage feature, News

Beginning today, the Non-GMO Project is launching an awareness campaign to highlight how individual actions ultimately lead to huge impacts. This idea is called the butterfly effect, and in the natural world, it happens all the time: A small and seemingly insignificant event spirals outward, creating massive and complex changes in the world around us. And we each have a role to play. If 2020 has taught us anything, it's that small actions and choices have large impacts. When we act towards a com... Read more

Supporting Non-GMO Project Clients in Unprecedented Times
March 31, 2020 - Blog, News

In light of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the Non-GMO Project wants to support participants in their ongoing participation in our Product Verification Program. As such, an interim policy regarding product verification renewals has been developed and was released to the Technical Administrators on March 27th. This policy aims to make accommodations for the ongoing changes in the supply chain due to the current pandemic without compromising the integrity of the Non-GMO Project Standard and verific... Read more

Working Together Through the COVID-19 Crisis — a letter from our Executive Director
March 20, 2020 - Blog, homepage feature, News

Last night, as I sat listening to the exuberant chorus of spring peepers from the pond in my backyard, I was struck by how full of paradox the world feels right now. Here in Bellingham, WA, our daily lives have completely changed. We moved all of our Non-GMO Project staff to virtual work 10 days ago and we are in the strange process of creating new daily rhythms that don’t include offices, schools, restaurants, or any social gatherings. At the same time that all of this isolation is occ... Read more

Ciranda Celebrates 25 Years of Organic Ingredient Supply
March 10, 2020 - Blog

HUDSON, WI (March 10, 2020) – It is with immense gratitude and celebration that Ciranda, Inc. announces 25 years in business — and 25 years of organic ingredients! Since its founding, the company has stayed true to its mission of expanding the organic industry, while supporting sustainable agriculture practices and the livelihood of farmers around the world. Ciranda introduced itself as an organic export business in 1994. Founders, Hans and Joan Friese, built strong relationships wi... Read more

Shoppers and Brands Agree: We Want Proof It’s Non-GMO!
March 9, 2020 - Blog, homepage feature

It’s not just grocery shoppers who are looking for Non-GMO Project Verified products — the brands you know and trust look for the Butterfly when they source ingredients too! As shoppers demand more transparency from food brands, brands are in turn demanding more transparency and more documentation from their suppliers. For the supply chain participants who make our favorite ingredients, this means proof of Non-GMO Project Verification is more important than ever before. Non-GMO Project C... Read more

Manukora Manuka Honey is Now Non-GMO Project Verified
March 9, 2020 - Blog

Manukora is excited to announce that all products from their Manuka honey range are now Non-GMO Project Verified, North America’s most rigorous third-party verification for non-GMO foods and products. Manukora honey is sourced from untouched forests in remote regions in New Zealand. The remoteness of our sourcing regions means our bees have an endless source of nectar to feed from. Our honey is a direct product of the environment it was created in — no quick fixes here. Quality honey ... Read more

A Non-GMO Project Certificate of Verification is a Ticket to Success
March 6, 2020 - Blog

Consumers have been asking for GMO transparency for more than two decades. As store buying policies and federal regulations are catching up with consumer expectations, self-made GMO claims are no longer sufficient for clients in the natural food supply chain. As shoppers demand more transparency from food brands, brands are in turn demanding more transparency and more documentation from their suppliers. For supply chain participants, this means proof of Non-GMO Project Verification is more impor... Read more

2019: The Year in Review
December 31, 2019 - Blog, homepage feature, News

As we welcome the roaring 20s, let’s revisit the major GMO-related happenings of the past year. 2019 rode in on the back of the National Bioengineering Food Disclosure Standard (NBFDS), a piece of regulation born to confuse, confound and mystify. At the Non-GMO Project, we worked hard this year to provide the transparency and reliability the NBFDS lacks, releasing v.15 of our Standard (you can read the Standard here anytime). Now let’s review the action that occurred outside the building... Read more

What You Need to Know about the New GMOs Showing Up in Our Food Supply
December 31, 2019 - Blog, homepage feature

Is it possible to create a non-GMO product using genetic engineering? While that might seem ludicrous to most of us, biotechnology companies have mounted an aggressive campaign to convince the world that the products of new genetic engineering techniques such as CRISPR are, in fact, non-GMO. Although this is completely unsupported by the scientific reality (more on that in a moment), developers of these products are so determined to distance themselves from the consumer rejection of GMOs tha... Read more