Grocery chains turn away from GMO salmon

The GMO debate is still going on, with officials in multiple states looking over the possibility of including labels on products to inform consumers whether or not the contents have been “genetically modified.”

Last month, major grocery chain Safeway took a stand alongside several significant U.S.-based companies in rejecting the possibility of selling salmon that has been, in the words of a release from the company, “not approved” for safety and consumption.

“Should GE salmon come to market, we are not considering nor do we have any plans to carry GE salmon,” the statement reads.

As Food Safety News reports, fish that has been specially bred and engineered to be bigger and theoretically yield more volume to companies has brought the opposition of other major chains as well.

But while the labels indicating a lack of GMO presence in an item seem like they might turn the tide, a piece in NPR from last month noted that this isn’t necessarily the simple answer that pro-organic supporters might like it to be. As the piece notes, there’s a difference between non-organic and genetically modified food, one that one simple label might not identify.

This is why a color label printer that gives companies the chance to come up with their own labeling solutions might be the best way to communicate this information. Instead of using a label that doesn’t really apply just because it relates to a news story, you can use the specificity of label makers to outline what exactly is in your product that others might find objectionable or harmful.

Making labels might be influenced by the government agencies you have to appease, but you can also have a high freedom of choice.