Non-GMO Foods: Big Brands Are Playing It Close To The Chest

By Isaac Fletcher, contributing writer, Food Online

Despite the growing demand for non-GMO products and the rapid growth of that sector, many major food producers are keeping quiet about their new GMO-free products

Concerns over GMO foods are affecting more than just natural, health, and eco-conscious products, as major food companies continue to eliminate GMOs from products. According to a recent NPR report, some companies, such as Ben and Jerry’s, have been very vocal about promises to keep products GMO-free. For many companies, GMO-free is a prime selling point, and prominently presented on labels.

However, other companies are focusing on non-GMO efforts in a more behind-the-scenes method. For example, General Mills’ original plain Cheerios are now being produced without the inclusion of GMO ingredients, but the company’s only mention of this change appeared on a company blog post earlier in the year. Unlike the labels of many of its competitors, there is nothing on the Cheerios label to inform the consumer that it is a GMO-free product.

“A lot of exciting, cool things are happening, that for whatever strategic reasons get kept pretty quiet,” explains Megan Westgate of the Non-GMO Project. According to Nathan Hendricks, an agricultural economist a Kansas State University, big food producers are demonstrating a tendency toward holding back this type of information and attempting to determine the direction consumers are leaning with their food preferences.

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Hendricks elaborates, saying, “Ultimately, these big companies aren’t just friends with Monsanto or something. They want to make a profit, and they want to be able to do what’s going to make them money.” What this boils down to is large companies needing a GMO-free product line in development to accommodate any consumer preference shift in that direction. With the nearly 20,000 products independently certified GMO-free by the Non-GMO Project, it would certainly appear that being amply prepared for the growing GMO-free demand will pay off for major food producers.

With nearly $6 billion spent on GMO-free products each year, it is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the natural foods industry. Despite this, many companies are still unwilling to leverage GMO-free as a marketing tool, and in many cases are still fighting state initiatives to ban GMOs.