Shopping for meat and eggs doesn't come easy to ethical omnivores. Certified-organic meat and eggs may come from animals that weren't treated with antibiotics or fed grains from genetically modified (GMO) crops, but there's no guarantee those animals lived happy, healthy lives in wide-open pastures.
Meat from animals that do live in wide-open pastures, on the other hand, may not qualify as "organic" because the farmers who raise them may use antibiotics or supplement the animals' pasture-based diet with GMO-tainted grains.
While there's still no single certification that encompasses all those things, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has, at the very least, just made it easier for you to avoid meat with GMOs. The Non-GMO Verified label, handed out by the Non-GMO Project, will now be allowed to appear on meat and eggs sold by producers that raise animals on GMO-free food. This is the first time the agency has approved such a claim.
Until now, GMO-free claims weren't allowed on meat and poultry products because the USDA sets stricter standards for food labeling than does the Food and Drug Administration, which regulates processed foods. According to a statement the USDA released, the agency is very adamant that any labels that appear on meat and egg packages be "truthful and not misleading to consumers" and be vetted by the agency to make sure companies provide adequate documentation to back up what their labels say.
After a number of organic and natural meat producers pressured the USDA to approve a GMO-free label, the agency settled on the Non-GMO Project's verification scheme, as the Project's is the only independent, third-party certification program that tests products to ensure they're free of GMOs.
The USDA's change of heart means that it'll be easier for you to find meat and eggs raised on GMO-free feed. The actual meat and egg products themselves won't undergo testing, but Non-GMO Project officials will be testing the crops, such as corn and soy, fed to the animals that produce meat and eggs. Certified-organic farmers are also prohibited from feeding GMO grains to their animals, but organic certification doesn't require that farmers test animal feed for potential GMO contamination, which can occur as a result of pollen drift, contamination during storage, and other means.
So far, five egg producers and seven beef, pork, and chicken producers qualify to apply the "Non-GMO Verified" seal to their products. To find the complete listing, visit nongmoproject.org/find-non-gmo/search-participating-products
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