2014-06-16 | permalink

USA: GMO labelling in Vermont, Ben and Jerry's and NON-GMO animal feed

Ben and Jerry"s: Our Non-GMO Standards

More than 60 countries already have laws restricting or labeling foods produced with genetic engineering. Now, Vermont is the first state to require common-sense labeling for foods produced with genetic engineering. Vermont’s first-in-the-nation law is expected to be challenged in court by food producers that do not want to disclose this information to consumers.

The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) and other food industry groups have filed a complaint challenging Vermont’s controversial new law mandating the labeling of food produced with GMOs.

As Vermont's new law requiring labeling of food containing genetically modified organisms shows, interest in GMOs, or the lack of them, is hot. A growing number of image-conscious companies, including Burlington-based Lake Champlain Chocolates, are looking to go non-GMO. (.....) However, the Non-GMO Project, an organization that verifies and offers its non-GMO seal of approval to products proven to be without GMOs, requires dairy and meat to come from animals fed non-GMO feed to earn its verification. Miller said with 90 percent of feed corn genetically modified in the United States, Ben & Jerry's would have difficulty sourcing its ice cream that way. Miller said the company has been able to make the switch to non-GMO and Fair Trade certified without having to discontinue any flavors.

• Vermont Food Fight Fund | Common-Sense Food Labeling
• GMA et al launch first amendment challenge to Vermont GMO labeling law
• USA Today: Ben and Jerry's says goodbye to GMOs
• Burlington Free Press: How Ben & Jerry's says goodbye to GMOs
• Media Center | Ben & Jerry’s
• The Non-GMO Sourcebook | Organic and non-genetically modified (non-GMO) directory of seeds, grains, ingredients, feed and foods suppliers
• Non-GMO Project Standard
• Demand for non-GMO animal feed growing exponentially | The Organic & Non-GMO Report