Protecting Organic from GMO's - New Standards Proposed

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Protecting Organic from GMO's - New Standards Proposed
Ken Roseboro, The Organic and Non-GMO Report
Published November 3, 2007 11:15 PM

Baltimore, MD - A draft standard for verifying the non-GMO status of natural and organic foods was introduced at a meeting held at Natural Products Expo East in Baltimore in September. The Board members of the Non-GMO Project, an industry initiative to verify the non-GMO status of natural and organic foods, discussed the draft non-GMO standard.

According to Megan Thompson, Non-GMO Project executive director, the goal of the draft standard is to define an industry-wide non-GMO Verification Program that is both meaningful and achievable. “The content of this draft reflects diligent efforts on the part of the Non-GMO Project’s Board of Directors and Technical Advisory Board, a collective group of over 30 leading members of the North American natural products industry,” says Thompson.

Non-GMO Project board members developed the draft standard over the past four months with input from industry members. The standard defines protocols and “action thresholds” that companies must adopt in order to verify their products as non-GMO and display the Non-GMO Project Verified seal on product labels. (See following article.)
Speaking at the Expo East meeting, Thompson and other Non-GMO Project board members emphasized that the aim is to establish a non-GMO standard that is broadly acceptable to industry members—from farmers to food manufacturers.



Project board member Mark Squire says the draft standard offers a powerful model to help the industry deal with the threat of genetically modified organisms, which natural food consumers want to avoid. “This is a solid vehicle for us to move forward,” said Squire, owner of Good Earth Natural and Organic Foods in Fairfax, California. “Consumers want to know about GMOs, and we can be hurt by denying that information.”

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complete article here