Food Companies Giving Consumers the Right to Choose

More and more food companies are supporting GE labeling.

In recent weeks, scores of organic and conventional food manufacturers and retailers have supported or contributed to national and state campaigns to require disclosure of the presence of GE ingredients in packaged foods.

Among the companies publicly — and financially — supporting GE labeling advocacy are Stonyfield Farm, Ben and Jerry’s, Dr. Bronner’s, Applegate, Happy Family, Organic Valley, Hain Celestial, Annie’s, Amy’s Kitchen, Clif, Whole Foods, Nature’s Path, the National Cooperative Grocers Association, and many more.

Few of these companies have done as much to support GE labeling as WhiteWave Foods, and its Silk and Horizon brands. To date, WhiteWave has contributed more than $1 million to national GE labeling campaigns, including more than $300,000 to Just Label It. WhiteWave has also been a major supporter of the Non-GMO Project, which works with companies to certify that foods are produced without GE ingredients.

“All of us who care about this issue can agree that we want GE foods labeled,” says Just Label It Chairman Gary Hirshberg, “and we need all the help we can get to achieve this goal. I appreciate the time and resources we’ve received from WhiteWave, Silk and Horizon, and our many other company partners, since we started Just Label It in 2011. Their contributions help us continue to work at the state and national levels in support of our right to know.”

Although a member of the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), WhiteWave has also refused to contribute to a GMA special assessment to fund anti-GE labeling efforts in Washington State.  Other prominent members of GMA have also refused to support industry efforts to deny consumers the right to know what’s in their food.

As WhiteWave noted on their Facebook page:

“We continue to believe that people should have a choice when it comes to their food, and labeling is a huge part of that. We firmly believe there should be a national GMO label, and have given more than a million dollars to organizations like Just Label It! and the Non-GMO Project, which are working toward achieving that goal.

As it relates to our relationship with the Grocery Manufactures Association (GMA), we’ve been in constant contact with them, letting them know very clearly where we stand. We have made it equally clear that neither our membership dues nor any other money we give them should be used in any way, shape or form to combat GMO labeling initiatives.”

Companies like WhiteWave recognize that American consumers should have the same rights as consumers in 64 other nations.