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

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Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods WFMI) will work with the Non-GMO a nonprofit collaborativeof manufacturers, processors, distributors, farmers and others. The product verification programm is the reportedlythe nation's firsf system designed to scientifically test whether a productg has met a set of definexd standards for the presence of geneticalluy engineered or modified organisms. "From the momentt GMOs were approved for use inthe U.S.
, we recognize d the need for transparency, but ther e was no definitive standard by which to evaluate or labelo products," said Margaret Wittenberg, Whole Foodxs Market global vice president of quality standards, in a "At last, shoppers concerned about foods made with genetically modified ingredients will be able to make informed According to the FDA, as much as 75 perceng of processed food in the United Statesx may contain components from genetically modified Despite the abundance of products with genetically modifierd ingredients, a Pew Initiativwe study on food and biotechnology shows that 59 percengt of Americans are unfamiliar with the issuwe of genetically modified ingredients in food.
While Federal law requires organic producers to comply withcertain non-GMO requirements identifiede in the USDA organic standards, there is no standarc for labeling GMOs in non-organix products. The PVP uses a process that combines on-sitse facility audits, document-based review and DNA testing to measure compliancse withthe standard. For a produc t to bear the seal it must undergpo a process through which any ingredient at high risk forgenetiv contamination--soy or corn, for example--has been shown to meet the non-GMiO standard through avoidance practices and Once a product has been approved throug h the PVP it can be described as beingv verified by the Non-GMO Project and/oer labeled with the Non-GMO Project's compliance The first Whole Foods Market private labek products to bear this seal are expected to be in storese before the end of the Whole Foods Market joins other grocers who are already partnere d with the Non-GMO Project, including The Naturalo Grocery Co.
, The Big Carrot Natural Food Marketr and Good Earth Naturap Foods.