USDA set to release final ‘bioengineered’ food labeling rule

Emily Moon | Pacific Standard | December 6, 2018

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After a contentious two-year comment period …. a rule requiring companies to label genetically modified foods is being finalized [the week of December 3]. The White House Office of Management and Budget approved the Obama-era legislation …. industry site IEG Policy reports, marking its last step before publishing.

Passed by Congress in 2016, the regulation would establish a “mandatory uniform national standard” for disclosing genetically modified ingredients, pre-empting similar state laws …. On its website, the USDA says the new standard “will increase consumer confidence and understanding,” but the proposed rule acknowledges that it “is not expected to have any benefits to human health or the environment.”

When the proposal was first unveiled for comment, many of the food and environmental groups that had spearheaded the call for transparency in food labeling opposed it, criticizing the friendly design and confusing language ….Since then, the USDA has modified its design: The new, slightly more somber labels will adorn packing on GMO foods starting in 2020 ….