GMO-free product

Sustainable production of cereals and other grain products.

GMOs as food are not found to any greater extent on the European market today, but are found mainly in feed for livestock.

There are many views on the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food. There are studies which indicate that there may be environmental drawbacks associated with their use, such as loss of biodiversity and risk of spreading. The benefits indicated may be that crops can become hardier and give higher yields.
The use of GMOs is tightly regulated in the EU through Directive 2001/18/EC on the deliberate release of GMOs into the environment. Products consisting of or containing genetically modified products must be labelled in accordance with Regulation 1830/2003/EC on the traceability and labelling of genetically modified organisms and the traceability of food produced from genetically modified organisms. Pre-packaged products must be labelled with the words "This product contains genetically modified organisms" or "This product contains genetically modified/modified [name of organism]", and on non-pre-packaged products the same text must appear on the product or in connection with its presentation.
The exception to these labelling rules is if the proportion of GMOs does not exceed 0.9% or lower thresholds established in Directive 2001/18/EC.
Contracting authorities who want to request GMO-free food are able to do so. However, it should be noted that the market supply of products which contain GMOs is very limited.

The version date indicates when the sustainability criterion was created or last updated. Last reviewed dated tells when we last checked that the sustainability criterion still is relevant.