The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis.
While supporters of Rep. Mike Pompeo’s Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act welcome its proposal to create a national standard for non-GMO claims, the Non-GMO Project says this would confuse shopper by creating a competing label underpinned by “drastically lower standards”.
Megan Westage, executive director of the Non-GMO Project said “This is a serious concern for the Project, a nonprofit that has been working since 2007 to successfully establish a consistent an rigorous standard for non-GMO claims.”
FoodNavigator-USA was speaking to Westgate after a lawsuit vs Chipotle highlighted the confusion surrounding ‘non-GMO’ claims with some stakeholders adopting a stricter interpretation of the phrase than others.
Meanwhile, non-GMO claims are now starting to appear on foods for which thee are no GMO versions on the market (e.g.. non-GMO pink sea salt), which some observers say confuses shoppers further.
Given the widespread confusion therefore, won’t Pompeo’s bill at least establish a definition by which everyone must abide?
Not according to Westgate, who argues that even if the bill becomes law, it will not bar the Non-GMO Project scheme from certifying products according to its own, stricter, standards.
Read full, original post: Pompeo bill would ‘create a competing Non-GMO label with drastically lower standards’, says Non-GMO Project