Appeals court rules USDA erred in excluding certain GMO foods from labeling requirements

"The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) acted unlawfully by excluding certain genetically modified foods from labeling requirements simply because modified genetic material was no longer detectable in the final product. Judge Daniel Collins wrote that the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) made a legal error by equating "non-detectability" with the absence of genetic modification, contradicting the intent of the 2016 federal labeling law."

"The court overturned a 2022 lower court decision that had upheld the USDA's rules and remanded the issue back to AMS for reconsideration, noting that the agency still has limited authority to exclude some bioengineered foods. Consumer advocates, including the Center for Food Safety, celebrated the decision as a major victory for transparency, saying it closes a loophole that excluded ultra-processed products like soda and cooking oil from GMO labeling."

The Ninth Circuit held that the USDA unlawfully excluded certain genetically modified foods from mandatory labeling by treating non-detectability as proof that a product was not bioengineered. Judge Daniel Collins found that the Agricultural Marketing Service erred in equating non-detectable modified genetic material with the absence of genetic modification, inconsistent with Congress's 2016 labeling law. The court vacated a 2022 lower-court ruling and remanded the matter to AMS for reconsideration while noting limited exclusion authority remains. The court upheld the term "bioengineered" but ruled QR-code-only disclosures illegal and ordered those rules vacated.

Read at Natural Health News