General Mills to label products with GMOs ahead of Vt. law

NEW YORK – General Mills says it will start labeling products across the country that contain genetically modified ingredients to comply with a law that is set to go into effect in Vermont.

The maker of Cheerios cereal, Progresso soups and Yoplait yogurt notes it is not practical to label its products for just one state, so the disclosures required by Vermont starting in July will be on its products throughout the U.S.

A spokesman for General Mills, Mike Siemienas, said the labeling will appear over the next several weeks. He did not immediately have examples of which products would have the labeling.

The move by General Mills Inc. comes as federal legislation on the labeling of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, has stalled in Congress. The food industry has called for voluntary labeling of GMOs, and sought to prohibit states from enacting a patchwork of laws around the country.

In January, Campbell Soup broke rank with the industry and said it supported federal legislation for mandatory labeling. General Mills, based in Minneapolis, did not say it supported mandatory labeling.

Genetically modified seeds are engineered to have certain traits, such as resistance to herbicides. The majority of the country’s corn and soybean crop is now genetically modified, with much of that going to animal feed. Corn and soybeans also are made into popular processed food ingredients such as high-fructose corn syrup, corn starch and soybean oil.

The Food and Drug Administration has said the genetically modified ingredients on the market now are safe. But advocates for labeling say the issue needs additional study.