{"id":18746,"date":"2022-02-08T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-08T14:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/?p=18746"},"modified":"2022-01-26T13:07:04","modified_gmt":"2022-01-26T18:07:04","slug":"new-labeling-requirements-for-products-containing-gmos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/2022\/02\/08\/new-labeling-requirements-for-products-containing-gmos\/","title":{"rendered":"New Labeling Requirements for Products Containing GMOs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Non-GMO project<\/a>,\na genetically modified organism (GMO) is \u201ca plant, animal, microorganism or\nother organism whose genetic makeup has been modified in a laboratory using\ngenetic engineering or transgenic technology. This creates combinations of\nplant, animal, bacterial and virus genes that do not occur in nature or through\ntraditional crossbreeding methods.\u201d Bioengineered plants or animals have had a\nnew gene inserted in them to give them a new trait, potentially one that is\nconsidered useful such as being resistant to a disease.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Polls have consistently shown that consumers are in favor of\nusing product labels to identify foods that contain genetically engineered\ningredients or GMOs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On January 1, 2022, the USDA\u2019s rules for labeling products\nwith GMOs went into effect. Foods can say, \u201ccontains a bioengineered\ningredient\u201d or can have a round label that says \u201cbioengineered\u201d or \u201cderived\nfrom bioengineering\u201d or can be labeled with a phone number or a QR code that\nconsumers can use to get more information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consumer organizations are concerned because many consumers\nare not familiar with the term \u201cbioengineered.\u201d Also, consumers may not have\nsmart phones or be unfamiliar with the technology for QR code access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, just because a package doesn\u2019t have a label,\nthere\u2019s no guarantee that it doesn\u2019t contain genetically modified ingredients.\nProducts containing GMO corn, soybeans, or sugar do not have to be labeled if\nthe levels of DNA in the final product is \u201cnot detectable.\u201d So, for example, if\nhigh fructose corn syrup, derived from GMO corn is used in soda, and the DNA\nfrom the corn doesn\u2019t show up because of the processing that has been done, the\nsoda does not have to be labeled. Products made from crops containing 5% or\nless of genetically engineered ingredients also don\u2019t have to be labeled. In\ncontrast, the European Union (EU) standard is much lower (0.9%) to allow for\naccidental contamination. Animal products, such as milk and eggs, from animals\nwhose feed contained GMOs do not have to be labeled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marion Nestle, author of Food\nPolitics<\/em> and other books, describes the new labeling rules as \u201cuseless.\u201d\nFortunately for those consumers who don\u2019t want their food to contain GMOs,\nother certifications such USDA Organic and NON-GMO Project Verified are still\nallowed to appear on packages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information see: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Food Politics blog: USDA\u2019s\nGMO-labeling Rules, Such As They Are, Go Into Effect<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Washington Post: The\nUSDA\u2019s New Labeling for Genetically Modified Foods Goes Into Effect Jan. 1<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

USDA: BE\nDisclosure<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Microbial\nRennets and Fermentation Produced Chymosin: How Vegetarian Are They?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Genetically\nModified Microbial Rennet: How Vegetarian Is It?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD According to the Non-GMO project, a genetically modified organism (GMO) is \u201ca plant, animal, microorganism or other organism whose genetic makeup has been modified in a laboratory using genetic engineering or transgenic technology. This creates combinations of plant, animal, bacterial and virus genes that do not occur in nature or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18746"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18746\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18748,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18746\/revisions\/18748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}