Food with Integrity is Catching On

There is a quote often attributed to Abraham Lincoln:

"You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time."

Recently Mann Packing has taken that lesson to heart and received good publicity in relation to its decision to not label some of its products as GMO free:

"The company is removing the non-GMO verified check from its single-cut lettuce products in its next print run, which could take place next month, said Gina Nucci, Mann’s director of corporate marketing. Mann did an about face after presenting its product packaging in Canada, where the Non-GMO Project Verified label is only allowed on products that have a GMO alternative."

"There is no GMO lettuce," said Nucci. "It made us go: Why are we doing this? We are perpetuating a fear that something is wrong with GMOs. We didn’t feel right doing that, so we chose to take that label off."

Read more at https://www.prweek.com/article/1446394/why-mann-packing-removing-non-gmo-labels-major-brands-add#B4Z8DsOqXMiBbVCu.99 

This is impressive transparency in an age of free-from labeling. 

Contrast this with companies like Chipotle taking the exact opposite stance engaging in nuanced and deceptive marketing practices to sell their products.  Lately trying to play to both sides of the GMO debate, they have been engaged in a lawsuit (against them) in relation to some of its free-from GMO advertising because the supply chain for softdrinks and animal feed contain GMOs. 

So they are agitating both the informed consumers that understand biotechnology is actually a good thing, as well as some of their customer base that is at least informed enough to understand the supply chain and ingredients.  To Chipotle's detriment. (even though they may have won this one in court). Hopefully with groups like Peel Back the Label we will see more consumers becoming more informed as they catch on to what food with integrity really means.

Maybe we will even see lawsuits against companies using the kinds of misleading 'free-from' labels (like with lettuce) that Mann Packing abandoned on grounds of misleading advertising! 

Gluten Free Bread via CRISPR

CRISPR technology might make gluten free wheat a reality:  

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2148596-genetically-modified-wheat-used-to-make-coeliac-friendly-bread/ 


For people with Coeliac or severe gluten intolerance this could be very exciting. However, there are a number of people choosing a gluten free diet for sociopolitical reasons that probably will continue to look for the 'gluten free' label bundled with non-GMO certification (which would most likely rule out CRISPR based advances like this). We have seen food companies abandon promising technologies (i.e. rBST in milk, finely textured beef) because of issues related to consumer acceptance/perceptions. Will they be willing to invest in commercialization of CRISPR based gluten free food given this history and the trend toward 'free-from' labeling?  Will there be enough demand from current gluten free consumers that are otherwise agnostic to these fads and trends? Can we learn anything from other new consumer enhanced products like non-browing apples, the Simplot Innate potato or the Impossible Burger?