What a very bizarre and false thing to accuse me of! I could have sworn that I wrote my comment in a span of about 10 minutes without copying and pasting from other sources. Just to see if one of my sentences was similar to something somewhere else, I put each one through Google to see where you got this notion from, and the only significant matches were to this very page. Speaking of polluting the blog… why don’t you go ahead and post the links to these mysterious articles?

Re: David Bianco:
Yes, many people know about the Flavr Savr tomato, but while the delayed ripening trait they developed was successful, the tomato was a commercial failure. (They intended to delay its ripening on the vine, and ship it, but it didn’t fare well in the shipping process.) As such, there are no Flavr Savr tomatoes grown for the supermarket, and Morta Di Fame is therefore incorrect about them being in the store.

After reading the article you linked to, I have come to the conclusion that you didn’t read it either. It explains pretty much what I have said here, confirming that there are no GM tomatoes on the market.

There is a lot of cultural mythology about genetic engineering in agriculture, I started a group blog last year to help address this issue and create a dialog on this topic. It is at http://www.biofortified.org.

There are no GM tomatoes in the store anywhere.

@Marion Nestle: I wonder, do you think it would be a good idea to label varieties that have traits derived through mutagenesis? Or how about those that have genes moved over through crosses with distant wild relatives, which sometimes require embryo rescue in order to germinate? Each of these techniques add new genes or drastically modify the genome, as in the case of mutagenesis, and there is no testing required of either one. (Also, as I understand it the FDA did not forbid GE labeling as you suggest, but denied the requirement for labeling.)

While I’m not an opponent of GE labeling per se, I recognize that Whole Foods’ move has more to do with maintaining a market niche than anything else. Notice that they are not requiring their producers to label anything with GE ingredients – they are requiring their producers to go through tests to verify their non-GE status. That’s not promoting consumer choice either – its Whole Foods deciding what consumers have to choose from.

Whole Foods is also on record telling their suppliers that they have to package their products in fossil fuel plastic rather than biodegradable plastics made from corn because of the GE issue. Years ago, they announced on Earth Day that they would eliminate plastic bags in favor of corn plastic bio-bags… and quietly switched back when they realized where the corn came from.

As for whether or not Whole Foods cares about its customers, to their credit they did discontinue selling things like Ear Candles when the safety of them was questioned. However, to this day they heavily market their untested and dubious food supplements to their customers, with a sales rep that wanders the “Whole Body” aisles to convince you to buy bogus remedies. Homeopathics, since they are only just water, will only hurt your checkbook, but what about the stuff that interacts with medications, or the things that serve no medical purpose but can cause some harm, like colloidial silver? That’s not ‘caring’ about customers, but caring about what customers can part with $$ for.

Ironically, the big money-maker in Whole Foods is not actual whole foods, but parts of foods dried, powdered, bottled up in agar capsules and labeled “raw”. So I’m pretty skeptical of the way that Whole Foods positions itself in the marketplace.

The FDA published their Policy on GE foods when Michael Taylor worked for them from 1991 to 1994, as FDA Deputy Commissioner for Policy (the same Michael Taylor who has just been appointed Senior Advisor to new FDA Commissioner Hamburg). He had previously worked for a law firm that represented Monsanto. After leaving the FDA (and USDA), Taylor returned to Monsanto.

Under Taylor, the FDA decided not to require labels on GE foods, considering them “substantially equivalent” to non-GE foods.

Here’s the FDA’s Policy Statement which Taylor signed off on:

Statement of Policy – Foods Derived from New Plant Varieties
FDA Federal Register, Volume 57, May 29, 1992

The URL for that document is:
http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/GuidanceDocuments/Biotechnology/ucm096095.htm

Here’s a part that refers to labeling:

“The agency is not aware of any information showing that foods derived by these new methods differ from other foods in any meaningful or uniform way … For this reason, the agency does not believe that the method of development of a new plant variety (including the use of new techniques including recombinant DNA techniques) is normally material information within the meaning of 21 U.S.C. 321(n) and would not usually be required to be disclosed in labeling for the food.”

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@Jack Everitt– For those who don’t think WFM ever works in the best interest of the consumer, well, you may not be a target WFM customer: Welcome to America– companies that REALISTICLY (not like mortgage scams) give the customer what they want, survive and thrive in the marketplace.

IF a company were to create a business like Whole Foods and name it “Perfect Food Industry” with ONLY NON-GM, ONLY-ORGANIC, AND ONLY NUTRIENT DENSE FOODS, consumers would not be willing to pay for these products in a good enough volume to consider a big-box style company like whole foods. The CONSUMER has to step up to the plate and be willing to pay higher prices for their food that is less processed. What do you think would happnen if all of the sudden, the $ menu had $0 sales? Think any fast food company would keep OVER-PROCESSED $1 items on the menu?

IF Whole Foods follows through with this and start certifying NON-GMO and give it a higher price because it is worth a higher price; the consumer CANNOT complain about that higher price.

The American Industry does not cater to irrational consumers: PERFECT PRODUCT + LOW PRICE = IN BUSINESS FOR A WEEK… NOT sustainable business model.

Are you sure this isn’t just for NEW suppliers? They seem to “grandfather in” their long-time suppliers, such as with products containing HFCS.

Sorry, but I believe that Whole Foods just does things in their own interest…they do not look out for their customers; they just want you to believe that.

(Used to go every week to Whole Foods…now, about 4 times a year. My closest WF seemed to turn into a Whole 365 Brands store – even eggs! And when the eggs’ only address on them is WF Texas HQ…how are we being served?)