Key Takeaways
- A federal district court issued a final remedy decision striking down provisions of USDA’s 2021 bioengineered (GMO) food labeling rule, siding with Center for Food Safety.
- The ruling voids the exemption for “highly refined” or ultra-processed GMO foods, which make up roughly 70% of GMO food ingredients.
- It also confirms that QR-code-only disclosure, without on-package text or symbols, is unlawful.
- The court set the provisions as legally void by January 1, 2028, rejecting USDA’s push to delay changes to 2029.
- USDA is expected to issue redone rules within the next year; CFS represented a coalition including Natural Grocers and PCC Natural Markets.
Center for Food Safety (CFS) has won a final remedy decision in its long-running challenge to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s rules for labeling genetically engineered, or bioengineered, foods. The federal district court struck down key provisions of the 2021 regulations, capping litigation that began in 2020 and reinforcing an earlier appeals court ruling in the group’s favor.
What Center for Food Safety challenged
The case targeted USDA’s implementation of the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard, the 2016 law that first mandated labeling of genetically engineered foods. USDA’s original rule exempted “highly refined” or ultra-processed GMO products, such as corn and soy oils, from disclosure, a loophole covering roughly 70% of GMO food ingredients. The rule also let companies disclose solely through digital QR codes rather than on-package text or symbols, despite USDA’s own study finding such labels less accessible to many consumers.
“Yesterday’s decision was the final nail in the coffin of the 2021 unlawful GMO labeling regulations,” said George Kimbrell, legal director for CFS and counsel in the case. “We are gratified that the district court, like the court of appeals before it, has agreed with our legal arguments and struck them down.”
What happens next
The decision sets the timeline for USDA to redo the rulemaking. The court rejected the agency’s bid to delay updates until 2029, agreeing with the plaintiffs that the provisions are legally void by January 1, 2028. USDA is expected to issue new rules addressing both the ultra-processed loophole and the QR-code issue within the next year.
“The next chapter now shifts back to USDA,” said Dashel Murawski, communications manager at Center for Food Safety. “People deserve the right to decide for themselves what they eat and feed their families and must not be kept in the dark about food ingredients.”
A coalition behind the case
In the litigation, CFS represented a coalition of nonprofits and organic retailers, including Natural Grocers, PCC Natural Markets, Good Earth Natural Foods, the National Organic Coalition, Citizens for GMO Labeling, Label GMOS and Rural Vermont. Debate over labeling of genetically engineered and gene-edited crops has run for more than two decades, and more than 60 countries already require some form of GMO food labeling. Polls have consistently shown that a large majority of Americans support mandatory disclosure.
