Grocery chain Whole Foods Market has announced that all products in its US and Canadian stores must be labeled to indicate the presence of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), by 2018.
Whole Foods Market co-CEO Walter Robb said the prevalence of GMOs in the US combined with non-existent mandatory labeling makes it tough for retailers to source non-GMO options and for consumers to select non-GMO products.
"Accordingly, we are stepping up our support of certified organic agriculture, where GMOs are not allowed, and we are working together with our supplier partners to grow our non-GMO supply chain to ensure we can continue to provide these choices in the future," Robb said.
The retailer, which sells 3,300 Non-GMO Project verified products from 250 brands at present, plans to expand the effort working with suppliers in all categories as they change to ingredients from non-GMO sources, or clearly label products with GMOs.
According to Whole Foods, the new labeling task is set to encourage manufacturers to ask questions pertaining to ingredients, and will help to provide better transparency about the products sold to its customers.
