(Image Source: Whole Foods)




BY CANDICE AVILES





Grocery chain Whole Foods is requiring labeling of all Genetically Modified Organisms by 2018.

This move makes Whole Foods the first national grocery chain to put a deadline on transparency. Whole Foods CEO Walter Robb announced the decision on Friday saying, “the prevalence of GMOs in the U.S. paired with nonexistent mandatory labeling makes it very difficult for retailers to source non-GMO options for consumers to choose.” (Via Whole Foods Market)


Very difficult to say the least. The Grocery Manufacturing Association reports 70% of items in American food stores have at least some genetically modified ingredients. (Via Forbes)

“Today more than 90% of all corn, soybean and canola in the U.S. comes from genetically modified seeds. These crops can withstand even the strongest weed killers and supporters say they keep food costs low for families.” (Via The Doctors)

If you are wondering what a Genetically Modified Organism or GMO is, Science Daily defines it as “an organism whose genetic material has been altered using techniques in genetics generally known as recombinant DNA technology.”

The more pressing question may be are genetically modified organisms good or bad for you?

A French study argues GMO’s are not good for humans because they found small amounts of herbicide in the some modified corn and when they fed that corn to rats, the rats developed tumors and died. (Via National Center for Biotechnology Information)

That study has been attacked by scientists, who say the French researchers used poor controls and didn’t accurately report the data. (Via New Scientist)

An executive with The Grocery Manufacturers Association told The New York Times, “the Food and Drug Administration, as well as regulatory and scientific bodies … deemed genetically modified products safe.”

Whole Foods announcement comes just a few months after an attempt to label foods in the state of California failed.

“During the November election, a mandatory GMO labeling initiative — Prop 37 — was introduced in California. Millions of dollars poured in from various corporations such as Monsanto and PepsiCo against the ballot measure, which was ultimately defeated.” (Via The Huffington Post)

Whole Foods has 339 stores in the U.S. and Canada and will keep releasing progress updates on the labeling.