Think tank files petition with US FDA to prohibit use of term "non-GMO" on foods

In a deeply sinister development, an obscure "science and technology think tank" wants to deny Americans the right to choose non-GMO foods. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) has filed a petition with the US FDA against the Non-GMO Project in the hopes of getting its butterfly label banned from food packaging.

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation said, "The Non-GMO Project food label deliberately deceives and misleads consumers in violation of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. ITIF petitions FDA to prohibit such labels. The 'Non-GMO' Project butterfly logo and label on consumer foods and goods misleads and deceives consumers through false and misleading claims about foods, food ingredients and their characteristics related to health and safety, thus constituting misbranding under the law.

"ITIF therefore requests, in a Citizen's Petition submitted to the Commissioner of Food and Drugs, that FDA issue a regulation to prohibit the use of the term 'Non-GMO' on consumer foods and goods, and to require distributors of foods and goods to revise their labeling to omit any 'Non-GMO' term, symbol, or claims."

GMO lobbyist Val Giddings – a former vice president of the Biotechnology Industry Organisation – is a senior fellow at this think thank.