Whole Foods Market to Adopt GMO Labeling

AUSTIN, TEXASEmbracing the spirit of a ballot initiative last year in California, Whole Foods Market revealed it will require that all products in its Canadian and U.S. stores include labels by 2018 specifying whether the food contains genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Whole Foods Market announced its plans amid increased support for state and federal laws that would require GMO labeling so consumers can understand whether a food has been altered through the insertion of genes into plant and animal DNA.

"We are putting a stake in the ground on GMO labeling to support the consumers' right to know," said Walter Robb, co-CEO of Whole Foods Market, which announced the initiative last week at the Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, Calif. "The prevalence of GMOs in the U.S. paired with nonexistent mandatory labeling makes it very difficult for retailers to source non-GMO options and for consumers to choose non-GMO products."

Some financial analysts have speculated that growing support for GMO labeling could benefit retailers like Whole Foods Market, whose thousands of organic products contribute to its annual sales ($11.7 billion) and appeal to a nation that is growing increasingly more health conscious.

Support for GMO labeling has been spreading across the United States, fueled by a ballot initiative in California that was defeated following an enormous spending campaign against the measure that was funded largely by Monsanto Co., Dow AgroSciences LLC, The Coca-Cola Company and other corporate giants. Proposition 37 opponents raised $46 million, about five times the amount as supporters ($9.2 million), according to MapLight, a nonpartisan research organization. In spite of the funding disparity, 48.6 percent of the electorate voted in favor of the measure, MapLight said.

Since Prop 37 was defeated in November, other Western states including New Mexico and Washington have introduced similar measures. And on Capitol Hill, Congressman Jared Polis (D-Colo.) has introduced a federal bill that would require GMO labeling across the nation.