USDA Begins Crafting Rules for Mandatory GMO Food Labels

“On the surface, we understand how some may be fundamentally dissatisfied with supporting this compromise solution because it includes an option to reveal the presence of GMOs through technology that would require a smartphone and Internet access. But it also covers more products than the Vermont Law,” OTA said in a statement. “When it comes to protecting organic agriculture and trade, we have to take the long view. If you consider what the opponents of GMO labeling proposed, and what the voluntary and state by state options would have offered, it’s hard not to see how this mandatory federal legislation is a constructive solution to a complex issue.”

Consumers Union, which had opposed the federal law, is urging those food companies that are currently labeling their GM products to continue doing so while the new rules are being developed.

“Campbell’s, Pepsi, Mars, Dannon, General Mills, Kellogg’s, Nestle, and Post Foods are among companies that have already done the work of determining which products have GMO ingredients, and have incurred the expense of changing product packaging to include the required words,” says Jean Halloran, director of Food Policy Initiatives at Consumers Union. “We urge companies not to hide this information while waiting for USDA to create new rules.”

The new GMO label law “is probably about the best outcome one could have hoped for,” says David Acheson, MD, founder and CEO of The Acheson Group and a former FDA associate commissioner for foods. “While this bill may not have given consumer organizations all they want, it is a practical mid-line solution that hopefully will put this issue to bed permanently and allow food companies to focus on real public health issues.”