Are you ready for USDA’s “Bioengineered Food” labeling rule?
With a mandatory compliance date of January 1, 2022, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) rule, “National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard (NFBDS),” requires “food manufacturers, importers and other entities that label foods for retail sale to disclose information about bioengineered (BE) food and BE food ingredients. This rule is intended to provide a mandatory uniform national standard for disclosure of information to consumers about the BE status of foods. Establishment and implementation of the new Standard is required by an amendment to the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946.”
“When you think about this law, it’s not a true food safety law,” said Eric Edmunds, JD, who recently appeared on SafetyChain’s FSMA Fridays and is director of food safety for The Acheson Group (TAG). “The science has really shown that bioengineered foods are as safe as their conventional counterparts. But, it’s a consumer information law—people want to know if they’re consuming bioengineered food, or what people commonly refer to as GMOs. Any food that is sold at retail that falls into its requirements is going to have to have some sort of disclosure,” Edmunds added.