Bioengineered food labeling is USDA's National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard, 7 CFR part 66: a food that is, or contains an ingredient that is, bioengineered, the federal term for what is often called GMO, carries a disclosure on its label. For a small maker the first question is whether it applies at all: a very small food manufacturer, with annual receipts under $2.5 million, is exempt, and so are restaurants, certified organic foods, and foods where no ingredient is intentionally bioengineered, allowing up to 5% inadvertent presence in each ingredient. Above the line, the manufacturer puts one of two texts on the package, "Bioengineered food" when every ingredient is, or "Contains a bioengineered food ingredient" when some are, or uses the USDA symbol, a QR code with "Scan here for more food information" and a phone number, or a text-message option. A small food manufacturer, $2.5 to $10 million, may instead print "Call for more food information" with a phone number, or a website. The common bioengineered crops in a small maker's recipe are sugar from beets, canola and soybean oils, and corn ingredients. In the example below, a cookie maker checks its status. Below are the rules, the texts, the example, and a free checker.
The short version
- Bioengineered food labeling is USDA's disclosure standard, 7 CFR part 66.
- Makers with annual receipts under $2.5 million are exempt.
- Restaurants and certified organic foods are exempt too.
- Inadvertent bioengineered presence up to 5% per ingredient doesn't count.
- Text: "Bioengineered food" or "Contains a bioengineered food ingredient".
- Or the symbol, a QR code with a phone number, or a text-message option.
- Small makers ($2.5M to $10M) may use a phone number or website statement.
- TaroStack keeps each ingredient's supplier and lot, with your records. More below.
The rules
| Rule | 7 CFR part 66 |
|---|---|
| Very small food manufacturer | Annual receipts under $2,500,000: exempt (66.1, 66.5) |
| Small food manufacturer | $2,500,000 to $10,000,000: extra options for how to disclose (66.1, 66.110) |
| Other exemptions | Restaurants and similar retail food establishments; certified organic foods; no ingredient intentionally bioengineered, with up to 5% inadvertent presence per ingredient (66.5) |
| Animals and feed | A food from an animal isn't bioengineered because the animal ate bioengineered feed (66.5) |
| Who discloses | The manufacturer or importer for packaged food; the retailer for food it packages or sells in bulk (66.100) |
| Text | "Bioengineered food" if every ingredient is; "Contains a bioengineered food ingredient" if some are (66.102) |
| Digital link | "Scan here for more food information" with a phone number answered at any hour (66.106) |
| Small manufacturer option | "Call for more food information" with a phone number, or "Visit [website] for more food information" (66.110) |
| Voluntary | Exempt makers may disclose voluntarily, in the same forms (66.116) |
How bioengineered compares with organic and Non-GMO Project Verified is in non-GMO Project Verified vs organic. This is general information, not legal advice.
An example: an Appleton cookie plant
Fox River Cookie Co., the made-up cookie maker in Appleton, Wisconsin, I use in these examples, sells about $402,000 of chocolate chip cookies a year, and a grocery chain's supplier questionnaire asks about bioengineered ingredients:
| Ingredient | Bioengineered? | Records |
|---|---|---|
| Enriched wheat flour | No | Supplier statement |
| Sugar | Yes | Supplier can't confirm a non-bioengineered source |
| Butter | No | Feed doesn't make it bioengineered |
| Chocolate chips | No | Supplier statement |
| Canola oil | Yes | Conventional canola |
| Eggs, vanilla, baking soda, salt | No |
| Result | |
|---|---|
| Maker size | Very small: under $2.5 million |
| Disclosure | Exempt |
| If it passes $2.5 million | "Contains a bioengineered food ingredient", or a small manufacturer's phone or website statement |
The questionnaire gets the exemption and the ingredient list; sugar and oil with supplier statements of non-bioengineered sources would take the question off the table if the chain asks for more. The plant's licensing is in food processing license, and the label overall in food labeling requirements for small business.
Get the checker
Download the bioengineered food disclosure checker. One sheet: type your annual receipts and whether the product is certified organic, mark each ingredient bioengineered or not with a note on your records, and the result fills in: exempt, no disclosure, or which text the label needs, with the disclosure options for your size. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
A disclosure depends on records: which sugar, from which supplier, in which batch. When a supplier changes, the answer can change, and a checklist won't notice.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each ingredient's supplier and lot, with your records.
Suppliers and lots. Each ingredient is received from its supplier with its lot, and fields of your own on the lot can hold a supplier statement, such as "non-bioengineered source".
Batches record their lots. Each batch records the ingredient lots it used, so the sugar in a given run, and its supplier, is on record when a buyer asks.
Suppliers change, records show it. A new supplier's first delivery is its own lot, so a switch to a sugar with a non-bioengineered statement shows up in the batches after it.
| The job | Folder | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Which sugar went into a run | Invoices | The lot on the batch |
| A supplier's statement | A folder | A field on the lot |
| When the supplier changed | Memory | The first lot from the new supplier |
Receiving, lots, batches and fields of your own are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.