Homemade gifts were our timely December theme for the monthly Cooking Challenge. As our final recipe contest, the competition was strong. Entries for cookies and confections were popular. Our winning recipe’s simplicity really struck each of our judges with its brilliance. Guest judge, Silvana Nardone of Easy Eats magazine announces the December Homemade Gifts Cooking Challenge recipe winner.
We have worked diligently to label our foods with information for our customers to have assurance that the ingredients we use are simple and pure. Part of this has involved working with the Non-GMO Project to get our products verified. We asked Courtney from the Non-GMO Project to help describe what GMOs are and why GMO labeling is imperative.
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When out shopping or enjoying your morning cereal, you may have noticed the recent addition of the “Non-GMO Project Verified” mark to some of your favorite products made by Attune Foods. In spring of 2011, Attune Foods had a large selection of their products verified by the Non-GMO Project. Offering North America’s only third party verification for products produced according to rigorous best practices for GMO avoidance, the Non-GMO Project has verified more than 3,000 products to its Standard. The verification process entails significant time and energy investment for enrolled companies, and yet, despite the resources required, the “Non-GMO Project Verified” label is the fastest growing label claim in the natural foods industry (SPINS, 2011). Attune Foods, along with the other companies verified by the Project, recognizes that people want to avoid GMOs, and as a company Attune Foods has made a commitment to ensuring that people have an informed choice about what they eat.
A little background on GMOs—since the mid-1990s genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have become increasingly common in U.S. and Canadian food products. Genetically modified foods are foods that have undergone genetic engineering, the splicing of the DNA from one organism into the DNA of another. While more than 50 countries around the world have either banned or required mandatory labeling of GMOs, the United States and Canada have taken a much more passive approach. According to the Grocery Manufacturers Association, GMOs are now present (and unlabeled) in over 80% of the food found on U.S. grocery store shelves. There are several efforts underway fighting for mandatory labeling of GMOs, but in the meantime there is a dire need for people to know if they are consuming GMOs. The Non-GMO Project verification mark provides an immediate solution to the lack of labeling on foods that contain genetically engineered ingredients and empowers consumers to vote with their wallets.
The Non-GMO Project verification mark provides:
• Trust—Currently, GMO-Free/Non-GMO claims are not regulated. Anyone can put “Non-GMO” on their package even if they haven’t done any testing. The Non-GMO Project Verification is the only third party certification for non-GMO. Learn more about our product verification.
• Rigor—Our seal ensures that every GMO risk ingredient in the product is subject to ongoing testing prior to use; we use an Action Threshold of 0.9%. This is in alignment with laws in the European Union, where any product containing more than 0.9% GMO must be labeled. Learn more about our seal.
• Choice—The Non-GMO Project enables consumers to opt out of the GMO experiment. GMO foods are not properly tested for human safety before they are released for sale. In fact, the only published study directly testing the safety of a GM food on humans found potential problems. To date, this study has not been followed up. (GM Crops – Just the Science). Learn more about GMOs.
A purchase of Non-GMO Project Verified products helps support a non-GMO food supply now and in the future. From one foodie to another—happy eating!
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Courtney Pineau is the Communications Director for the Non-GMO Project. From growing food, to researching food systems and working in the natural foods industry, Courtney has been involved in food and educational outreach for the majority of her life. She worked for several major natural foods companies in sales and marketing before attending the Bainbridge Graduate Institute, where she graduated with a MBA in Sustainable Business with a concentration in food systems. Prior to the Non-GMO Project, Courtney worked for SPIE, an international non-profit as a marketing project manager for five years. It was through this work that she saw the immense value of analytical marketing for mission-driven organizations. Since joining the Project in the summer of 2011, Courtney’s work has been focused on developing new tools for Non-GMO Project Verified companies and increasing the Project’s social media outreach.
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