Out of the pure goodness of its big corporate heart, Whole Foods wants you to know if there are any GMOs in your $8 kombucha and $30 take-out salad.
Several states are kicking around proposals to require labels on genetically modified foods, but the (w)holier-than-thou natural foods giant waits for no government! It will wait for its suppliers, though. Whole Foods announced today that, by 2018, it will require genetically modified foods be labeled as such.
“We are as excited about this announcement as we are dedicated to supporting transparency and our customers’ right to know what’s in their food,” read the statement from Whole Foods co-CEO Walter Robb and COO A.C. Gallo. “By 2018, we will require our supplier partners to label products containing GMO ingredients, and we will work in collaboration with them as they transition to sourcing non-GMO ingredients or to clearly labeling products with ingredients containing GMOs.”
Here’s Robb reading more Whole Foods PR off a teleprompter. (Also, when I think Whole Foods offices I think earth tones, not hot pink, but that’s not a judgment.)
“We are the first national grocery chain to set a deadline for full GMO transparency,” the statement reads. But the announcement comes on the heels of rumblings that its food culture foil and market dominator Walmart has been kind of on the same trip. Lately even Monsanto is kind of open to the idea of GMO labels. Are these really proactive policies, or are companies just seeing the writing on the wall and the legislation to come?
Either way, cool moves, Whole Foods. But I still kind of hate you, John “Crazy Eyes” “What’s the Big Deal About Climate Change?” “Unchecked Capitalism Rocks” Mackey.
