Wegmans wants the federal government to standardize the labeling and certification regarding genetically modified foods, or GMO’s.
Wegmans nutrition and product labeling manager Jane Andrews says the supermarket chain used to get maybe 40 or 50 comments a month about GMO's, mainly from consumers who wanted to know if a product they wanted to buy was made with genetically modified organisms.
But since another Wegmans official, Mary Ellen Burris recently blogged about the company's views on the issue, Andrews says it brought hundreds of comments to the grocery chain.
“It’s a very polarizing topic and you’re either for them or against them, or that’s how it seems on the blogosphere anyway. We realize we’ve hit a nerve here but we think it’s important for consumers to have choice.”
Andrews says everything Wegmans has seen and heard about genetically modified foods convinces them those foods are just as safe as conventional foods. But she says Wegmans would like to see a more clear definition of what it means when you label something as being 'non-GMO,' and it would also like the Food and Drug Administration to formalize the process for approving food produced through GMO technology.
Andrews notes that if you really want to avoid buying genetically modified food, you can always just make sure you are making food that is certified organic.
