First General Mills announced its plans to label GMOs, and now 2 more Big Food companies are following the companys lead. Both Kelloggs and Mars will now label many of their products with the words, produced with genetic engineering if they contain GMOingredients, starting in mid-April.
Just as General Mills will be doing, Mars and Kelloggs are complying with Vermonts first-in-the-nation mandatory GMO labeling requirements that take effect in July.
Kellogg North America President Paul Norman said the labels will appear nationwide, not just in Vermont:
because a special label for Vermont would be costly for us and our consumers.
Mars made a similar statement:
In 2014, the state of Vermont passed a mandatory genetically modified (GM) ingredient labeling law that requires most human food products containing GM ingredients to include on-pack labeling as of July 2016. To comply with that law, Mars is introducing clear, on-pack labeling on our products that contain GM ingredients nationwide.
Though Mars, Kelloggs, and General Mills have all quoted the cost of labeling as a concern, it is more likely the companies are moved by the huge public outcry against Big Foods shady tactics regarding food labeling. Consumers Union has said GM labeling will cost individuals less than a penny a person a day.