As of Jan. 1, all bioengineered foods must be disclosed. In 2018, past Secretary of the USDA Sonny Perdue announced the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard, which was required to be established by Congress in 2016.
Food companies must disclose bioengineered foods through either text, symbols, electronic or digital links and/or text messages. The standard mandated that companies begin disclosing bioengineered foods by Jan. 1, 2020, except for small food manufacturers, who were given until Jan. 1, 2021.
The mandatory compliance date was Jan. 1, 2022, and all entities must now comply with the standard. Bioengineered foods are defined as those that contain detectable genetic material that has been modified through lab techniques and cannot be created through conventional breeding or found in nature.
