January 1, 2022 was the mandatory compliance date for the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard. All labels on retail shelves should be labeled as containing BE ingredients now. Food served in a restaurant, or similar retail food establishment is exempted.
Many, but not all, products containing bioengineered substances will require a disclosure to be sold in the US. The standard defines bioengineered foods as those that contain detectable genetic material that has been modified through in vitro rDNA technique.
Main US crops are on the BE foods list authorized for commercial production: corn, cotton, potatoes, and soybean. 90% of US corn is produced using genetically engineered seeds. If the corn oil contains a detectable modified genetic material, then it requires a bioengineered food disclosure. If the corn oil has been highly refined to the point that the supplier’s records show the modified genetic material is no longer detectable, a disclosure is not required. This applies to other highly refined ingredients, such as canola and soybean oils.
Canola is one of the crops where both GMO and non-GMO canola seeds are readily available. This is an example of why you would still want the Non-GMO Project Verified certification.
The Non-GMO verification process requires testing of individual ingredients annually by a third party for compliance with the non-GMO standards. The organization stays current with new technology occurring in the food industry. According to an article in the Non-GMO report, oils is one of the fastest-growing categories with the organization experiencing a 5% growth overall. The list of verified ingredients by brand is easily found at www.nongmoproject.org.
All oils and Deglet Noor dates sold by Bulk by CHO are verified as Non-GMO Project Verified and listed on the website under Bulk by CHO and our retail brand Terra Delyssa (olive oil and dates). The certificate is available as part of our quality documents package.
