FAQ’s of Bioengineered ingredients
Bioengineered Ingredients FAQ
Q. What is the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard?
A. The National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard (NBFDS or Standard) requires food manufacturers, importers, and certain retailers to disclose information about whether food offered for retail sale is bioengineered (BE) or uses BE food ingredients. The Standard is designed to provide consumers more information about their food. Bioengineered foods are those that contain a detectable amount of genetic material that has been modified, and cannot be found in nature.
Q. How common are bioengineered ingredients, and how long have they been used in the US?
A. BE ingredients have been widely used in food production for more than 30 years. In the US, the most commonly grown GMO crops include corn, soy, and sugar beets. These crops are be more resistant to insects of better able to withstand disease, and the need to use insecticides and herbicides is reduced in bioengineered crops.
Q. What other terms are used to describe these ingredients? GMO?
A. Bioengineered foods are also referred to as “Genetically Modified Organism”, “GMO” and “Genetic Engineering” are used interchangeably for marketing purposes.
Q. What quantity of bioengineered ingredients need to be present in a food to report?
A. Any food in which the bioengineered ingredients are detected need to be reported.
Q. What is the list of Bioengineered Foods?
A. The list includes alfalfa, apple (ArcticTMvarieties), canola, corn, cotton, eggplant (BARI Bt Begun varieties), papaya (ringspot virus-resistant varieties), pineapple (pink fleshed varieties), potato, salmon (AquAdvantage®), soybean, summer squash and sugar beet.
Q. What is the compliance date for this ruling?
A. January 1, 2022 is the date for mandatory compliance. Compliance
Q. What kind of food is required to be labeled under the new labeling requirements?
A. Food served in restaurants, food trucks, airplanes, bakeries, delis, intended for immediate consumption are exempt from compliance with disclosure. But food sold by a grocery store, bakery or deli not intended for immediate consumption would be required to be labeled with any bioengineered ingredients the food contains.
Q. Are bioengineered ingredients safe?
A. Yes- many of the ingredients used in our food come from the same sources throughout the US food industry. All ingredients meet rigorous safety and quality standards, and in some cases exceed regulatory requirements.