USDA FINALISES BIO-ENGINEERED Food Disclosure Standard

The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has published its final regulations regarding disclosure requirements for goods that are produced using bio-engineering techniques.

Published in the U.S. Federal Register, the FDA’s regulations require producers of bio-engineered foods to provide consumers with information affirming the use of bio-engineering techniques in the production of the final food product, or the presence of food ingredients that were produced using bio-engineering methods. 

The requirements of the regulation can be demonstrated in various ways, such as through the addition of a statement such as “bio-engineered food” or “contains a bio-engineered ingredient” to the food packaging, or through the use of an obvious symbol or mark that connotes the use of bio-engineering production methods or ingredients. 

The FDA’s bio-engineered food disclosure standard exempts meat, dairy and egg products that originate from animals that have consumer bio-engineered feed, as well as alcoholic beverages. 

Producers must comply with the bio-engineered food disclosure standard as of January 1, 2020. However, those producers who qualify as “small food manufacturers” under FDA rules will have an additional year, until July 1, 2021, to comply. 

The complete text of the USDA’s food disclosure standard as published in the Federal Register is available here.