Our View on Food Labeling 

The food we put on our tables reflects our history, family and culture. We understand consumers want to know about their food. Advancing health and nutrition is what we do best and care about most. As consumers ourselves, we believe accurate disclosure of information about food can provide consumers access to information regarding sustainability, sourcing, GMO ingredients and more via a SmartLabel™ and other tools.

In the United States, we are one of over 1,100 food and agriculture organizations that supported the bipartisan National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Law that was enacted in 2016.  We believe a consistent national standard will help consumers, no matter where they live, make informed choices about the food we buy and eat.  A national standard is preferred to a state-by-state patchwork of labeling laws because the latter would have created confusion and driven up food costs for consumers and families, small family-run businesses, and farmers.

In a world that is getting warmer, thirstier and more crowded, we believe farmers and consumers should have a broad range of product choices in the marketplace.

Our Role in Food Production 

We are committed to developing innovative products and solutions to benefit farmers, people, and our planet. We are proud to serve our farmer customers who grow high-quality crops that contribute to a safe, healthful and sustainable food supply.

Food production starts with a seed. This is where much of our business is focused. As a modern agriculture company, we produce a wide variety of seeds including conventional and biotechnology (or GM) seeds for all types and sizes of farms around the world. For the past two decades, seeds improved through biotechnology have become the preferred choice of millions of farmers globally because of their benefits. We label all our seed products to ensure that farmers are aware of what they choose to buy and plant.

The safety of our products is our first priority. We recognize some are interested in biotechnology’s role in agriculture and food supply, as well as its benefits and safety. The American Medical Association, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the U.N. World Health Organization, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have all concluded after reviews of decades of extensive studies that food ingredients and products made from biotech crops (GMOs) are as safe as their conventional counterparts.

In the United States, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has released the final rules of the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard. The implementation date of the Standard is January 1, 2020, and companies will have until January 1, 2022 to comply.

We are committed to transparency and encourage diversity in agricultural practices. We recognize the importance of finding common ground and collaborating for the coexistence of diverse farming practices. We know that conversations about food will continue – around dinner tables, among families and friends, in the aisles of food stores around the country and online. We look forward to continuing the conversation, and welcome a collaborative discussion.

Some useful links

 

Views from other organizations