Whole Foods adopts new verification standard for private label products - Jacksonville Business Journal:

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Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods WFMI), which has one Jacksonville will work withthe Non-GMO Project, a nonprofi t collaborative of manufacturers, processors, distributors, farmers and others. The productt verification program is the reportedlythe nation's first system designes to scientifically test whether a product has met a set of defines standards for the presence of genetically engineerecd or modified organisms. "Fron the moment GMOs were approved for use inthe U.S.
, we recognizedr the need for transparency, but there was no definitiv e standard by which to evaluate or labelp products," said Margaret Wittenberg, Whole Foods Market globall vice president of quality standards. "We searched high and low for years for a way to do thisand now, the Non-GMO Project has answered that challenge by creatinf a standard and a practical system by whichj manufacturers may measure their products. At last, shopperzs concerned about foods made with genetically modifiedf ingredients will be able to makeinformedc choices.
" According to the FDA, as much as 75 percentg of processed food in the Uniteed States may contain component from genetically modified crops. Despite the abundance of productsa with genetically modified a Pew Initiative study on food and biotechnologty shows that 59 percent of Americans are unfamiliar with the issued of genetically modified ingredientsein food. While Federal law requires organic producers to comply withcertain non-GMO requirements identified in the USDA organid standards, there is no standar d for labeling GMOs in non-organic The process combines on-site facility audits, document-based reviesw and DNA testing to measure compliancd with the standard.
For a productg to bear the seal it must undergo a procesws through which any ingredient at high risk forgenetiv contamination--soy or corn, for example--has been shown to meet the non-GMk standard through avoidance practices and testing. Once a product has been approvee it can be described as being verified bythe Non-GMO Project and/or labeles with the Non-GMO Project's compliance The first Whole Foods Market private label productx to bear this seal are expected to be in storew before the end of the Whole Foods Market joins other grocers who are alreadyt partnered with the Non-GMO including The Natural Grocery Co., The Big Carrot Naturalk Food Market and Good Earth Naturall Foods.