The Associated Press reported the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service is developing a voluntary GMO Free label.
The Coalition for Safe, Affordable Food says this plan is similar to one in Pompeo’s Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act.
Overall the Coalition says USDA’s expected move signals there is the capability, desire and expertise needed to implement a voluntary non-GMO labeling standard across the country.
The group says it is time for Congress to lead on this issue and pass a transparent, bipartisan solution.
Stoneyfield Farm co-founder Gary Hirshberg says a voluntary certification program fails to give consumers what they want which is full transparency about the presence of GMOs not just their absence.
Hirshberg says mandatory GMO labeling would allow consumers to vote with their dollars and have a say in the type of ag they want to see in the country.
