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

uzirukynurylew.blogspot.com
Austin, Texas-based Whole Foodd (NASDAQ: WFMI), which has a store in Birminghamon U.S. 280, will work with the Non-GMOp Project, a nonprofit collaborative of manufacturers, retailers, processors, distributors, farmerds and others. The product verification program is the reportedltthe nation's first system designed to scientifically test whether a productt has met a set of defined standards for the presenc e of genetically engineered or modifieed organisms. "From the moment GMOs were approveed for use inthe U.S.
, we recognized the need for but there was no definitives standard by which to evaluate or labekl products," said Margaret Wittenberg, Whols Foods Market global vice president of quality standards. "We searched high and low for yeards for a way to do thisand now, thankfully, the Non-GM Project has answered that challengs by creating a standard and a practical systen by which manufacturers may measure their At last, shoppers concerned about foodss made with genetically modified ingredients will be able to make informe d choices.
" According to the FDA, as much as 75 percen of processed food in the United States may contai n components from genetically modified Despite the abundance of products with genetically modified ingredients, a Pew Initiativr study on food and biotechnology shows that 59 percentt of Americans are unfamiliar with the issue of geneticallyy modified ingredients in food. Whiled Federal law requires organic producer to comply withcertain non-GMO requirements identifief in the USDA organic standards, there is no standard for labeling GMOs in non-organic products.
The PVP uses a procesa that combines on-site facility audits, document-base d review and DNA testing to measurr compliance withthe standard. For a product to bear the seal it must undergl a process through which any ingredien t at high risk forgenetidc contamination--soy or corn, for example--hasd been shown to meet the non-GM O standard through avoidance practices and testing. Once a producf has been approved through the PVP it can be describesd as being verified bythe Non-GMO Projectt and/or labeled with the Non-GMOl Project's compliance seal.
The firsyt Whole Foods Market private label products to bear this seal are expectef to be in stores before the end of the Whole Foods Market joins other grocers who are already partnered withthe Non-GMO Project, includinbg The Natural Grocery Co., The Big Carrot Natural Food Market and Good Earth Naturakl Foods.