Bonus: Waylon’s interview with Whole Foods: The Biggest, Best News We’ve had in a Year.

 

Last week, at Natural Products Expo West, the biggest organic trade show of the year, Whole Foods made a huge announcement.

The company said that by 2018, all products in its U.S. and Canadian stores must be labeled to indicate whether they contain genetically-modified organisms (GMOs).

The importance of this announcement cannot be underestimated. Why?

Right now, there are 62 countries around the world that require GMOs to be labeled, but the U.S. is not one of them.

By mandating that its suppliers label any products which contain GMOs, Whole Foods has made a enormous commitment to transparency and has gone above and beyond what federal laws require.

Immediately after the announcement to the press at Expo West, I was able to get the very first interview with the company and spoke with Co-CEO Walter Robb and President A.C. Gallo:

What struck me was how candid Walter Robb was when discussing the feedback from Whole Foods’ customers about how the company has handled GMOs in the past.

All I can say is major, major kudos to Whole Foods for taking this tremendous step in protecting our fundamental right to know what is in our food.

Awesome job!

 

Max Goldberg runs the Organic Food Industry Group on LinkedIn (please feel free to join) and us also a member of the The Cornucopia Institute, Organic Consumers Association, Environmental Working Group, Northeast Organic Farming Association – MA, Food & Water Watch, and The Center for Food Safety.

 

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Ed: Kate Bartolotta