General Mills to Label All GMO Products Nationwide

Food giant General Mills (GM) recently announced it would begin labeling all of its products containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in compliance with a new Vermont law requiring such labeling on all foods sold in the state. The decision by the $17.9 billion multinational company—prompted by a state of approximately 600,000—is seen as a major victory for food transparency, especially considering the corporation’s past contribution of more than $3.5 million to a handful of propositions that would have limited consumers’ right to know what goes in their food. “We can’t label our products for only one state without significantly driving up costs for our consumers,” Jeff Harmening, head of GM’s US retail operations, said, “and we simply won’t do that. The result: consumers across the country will soon begin seeing words legislated by the state of Vermont on the labels of many of their favorite General Mills food products.” Just last week, the Senate voted against the DARK Act (Denying Americans the Right to Know act), which would have blocked the state-level decision-making process to enact GMO labeling, by a vote of 49–48.