Food Business News - July 2, 2013 - 44

Washington

U.S.D.A. approves
‘non-bioengineered’ label
Approval did not
imply a change in the
agency’s assertion
that approved
bioengineered
products are safe
he Food Safety and Inspection Service of the
U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved use
of a label for meat and liquid
egg products with the claim
the products were from animals raised on diets containing no bioengineered grain or
ingredients. The approval was
in response to an application
for such a label from the NonG.M.O. Project, Bellingham,
Wash., and three West coast
food companies.
It was thought the approval
may encourage other meat,
poultry and egg producers to
seek to qualify for using the label to distinguish their products
in the marketplace and among
consumers who seek foods that
are free from bioengineered ingredients.
“The Non-G.M.O. Project, a
third-party certifying organization, approached F.S.I.S. in
October 2012 about potentially
indicating on product labels under F.S.I.S. jurisdiction that the
animals were fed diets without
genetically engineered ingredients,” said Cathy Cochran of the
F.S.I.S. office of public affairs
and consumer education. “Since
then, F.S.I.S. has worked with

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the Non-G.M.O. Project, three
food companies, the Food and
Drug Administration, and the
Agricultural Marketing Service
to be sure that the potential label claims are truthful and not
misleading to consumers.
“The approved labels state
that the products meet the
standards of a third-party certifier regarding the use of nonG.M.O. feed,” Ms. Cochran
continued. “The agency has
not developed any new policy
regarding non-genetically engineered or non-G.M.O. products
and is not certifying that the
labeled products are free of

The
T
agency
agen has
not developed
any new policy
regarding nongenetically
engineered or
non-G.M.O.
products.
— Cathy Cochran, F.S.I.S. oﬃce
of public aﬀairs and consumer
education
genetic engineering or genetic
modifications.”
Ms. Cochran explained the
F.S.I.S. administers a prior label
approval program.
“F.S.I.S. allows companies to

demonstrate on their labels that
they meet a third-party certifying
organization’s standards, provided that the third-party organization and the company can show
that the claims are truthful, accurate and not misleading, and provided there are resources to help
consumers understand exactly
what the claims and certification
mean,” she said.
Ms. Cochran pointed to the
U.S.D.A.’s National Organic
Program as another example of
a third-party certifying organization.
The Non-G.M.O. Project indicated it offers North America’s
only third-party verification and
labeling program for non-bioengineered food and products. It
has developed a “Non-G.M.O.
Project standard” to which
companies seeking verification that their products are free
from bioengineered ingredients
must adhere.
The standard requires practices and processes for preventing
contamination of labeled products by bioengineered ingredients. The standard prescribes
methods such as segregation,

traceability, risk assessment,
sampling techniques, and quality control management.
Once the Non-G.M.O. Project’s product verification program determines a company’s
products are in compliance
with the requisite standards,
a licensing agreement may be
signed to allow the company
to use the Non-G.M.O. Project’s
logo and verification mark on
the product packaging.
The three companies joining
The Non-G.M.O. Project in seeking the label’s approval were
Mindful Meats, Point Reyes, Calif., which markets organic grassfed beef to northern California
restaurants and retailers; Pitman
Family Farms, Sanger, Calif.,
which markets Mary’s free-range
chicken and other poultry products, and Hidden Villa Ranch,
Fullerton, Calif., which produces
eggs and egg products.
“It means everything to have
this label, and we’re very thankful that F.S.I.S. worked with us
to get this approved,” said David
Pitman of Pitman Family Farms,
which has 17 Non-G.M.O. Project Verified products and is in

July 2, 2013

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