The Food Marketing Institute is praising the publication of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s final National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard rule, which the Arlington, Virginia-based group says provides a consistent way to provide transparency regarding foods sold in grocery stores that contain bioengineered ingredients.

“FMI commends USDA for introducing a more precise vocabulary into the public discourse regarding biotechnology in food production,” says FMI’s president and CEO, Leslie Sarasin. “We look forward to working with the department to promote consumer understanding of the terminology in this rapidly emerging field.” 

FMI enthusiastically supported the legislative process to pass the 2016 bill calling for the establishment of a clear and uniform national standard that would provide grocery shoppers with understandable information regarding products containing bioengineered ingredients, Sarasin says. “We have been working closely with USDA and our coalition partners throughout the supply chain to ensure the final rule provides consistency and clarity to the customers shopping in any of our membership’s 33,000 retail food stores.”
 
She adds that FMI looks forward to continuing its collaboration with the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service and food retailers and wholesalers throughout the U.S. to roll out this important new disclosure standard to ensure its members’ customers have access to the information that is important to their lifestyle choices. “We will thoroughly review the final rule to better understand the new requirements it contains.”