A year ago, the U.S. Department of Agriculture began mandating labeling for foods that are genetically modified or contain GMO ingredients.
The national standard was endorsed by some farm industry groups, including the American Farm Bureau Federation. But the use of “bioengineered” in place of the more widely-known term “GMO” upset a coalition of food retailers and nonprofits that sued the USDA. A federal court largely upheld the law.
Yet even if consumers notice the label, it may not impact their food choices.
Vermont enacted its own rules on disclosing GMOs — ones that were trumped by the federal regulations in 2016. A Cornell University study found the mandatory labeling had a negligible effect on which products consumers bought.
Instead, said Aaron Adalja, one of the co-authors of the research, any changes consumers wanted to make, such as shifting to non-GMO products, happened during the legislative process, long before the label was implemented.
Adalja said he expects that to be the case with the national standard as well.
“We don’t expect it to have any additional effect on consumer behavior in the short run,” he said. “We don’t expect there to be a big blip, a big drop in GMO demand or a big change in demand.”
