General Mills to label GMOs in products
By Jenny Hopkinson 03/18/2016 01:08 PM EDT
General Mills is going to label for genetically modified ingredients in all of its products sold in the U.S., a move the company says is necessary in order to comply with Vermont's mandatory GMO labeling requirement while Congress continues to work on a national standard.
The Golden Valley, Minn.-based food giant announced the move today, saying that the change needs to be made now in order to meet Vermont'sJuly 1 implementation deadline.
"We can't label our products for only one state without significantly driving up costs for our consumers and we simply will not do that," Jeff Harmening, chief operating officer of U.S. retail, wrote in a blog post on the company's website. "The result: consumers all over the U.S. will soon begin seeing words legislated by the state of Vermont on the labels of many of their favorite General Mills products."
However, Harmening said the company is still going to work with the rest of the industry to get Congress to pass a law to set a national standard.
"With the Vermont labeling legislation upon us, and with the distinct possibility that other states will enact different labeling requirements, what we need is simple: We need a national solution."
The announcement from General Mills marks the second major food company to decide to label its products nationally. The Campbell Soup Company made public its plans to do the same in January. It also follows a failed effort Wednesday by Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts to pass a bill that would preempt GMO labeling laws in Vermont and other states from taking effect.
While lawmakers and the food industry have agreed to continue to work on federal legislation, it's unclear if a compromise short of labeling on packages will garner enough support from Democrats to gain passage.
