General Mills will begin labeling GMOs, but they don’t sound thrilled about it. Vermont’s state law, which will enforce GMO labeling by July 1st, has prompted General Mills to go ahead and make the change.
General Mills Makes the Switch to GMO Labeling. Click the pic for original image.
“We can’t label our products for only one state without significantly driving up costs for our consumers, and we simply won’t do that,” Jeff Harmening, head of General Mills’ U.S. retail operations, said in a post on a company blog Friday. “The result: Consumers all over the country will soon begin seeing words legislated by the state of Vermont on the labels of many of their favorite General Mills food products.”
Although General Mills is going forward with GMO labeling, they continue to push for a nation-wide labeling solution. Their website reiterates Harmening’s comment, that patchwork state-by-state labeling solutions will increase the costs of products for companies and consumers alike.
“Our position on GMO labeling hasn’t wavered at all,” Harmening said. “We are fully aligned with the Grocery Manufacturers Association,” a big trade group pushing against mandatory labeling in Congress. The association also has filed a federal suit arguing the Vermont law is unconstitutional.
Yes, you read that correctly — despite the move, General Mills is adamantly AGAINST labeling — probably because a vast majority of their products do indeed contain GMOs, so the new language will be appearing on most of their labels.
The big question remains — will the Senate pass a mandatory GMO labeling law, enacting a national standard, or will they keep trying to push through a bill that strikes down Vermont’s law and makes GMO labeling voluntary?
See The Walk a Mile Project’s coverage of the Senate situation next month in GMO TRUTH Podcast #9.
To read the article on General Mills GMO labeling, go to http://www.startribune.com/general-mills-to-start-using-gmo-labeling-nationwide/372580101/
Featured image found at: http://prn.to/1TnK7jO
