Bloomberg View: There's No Harm in Knowing What You Eat

On March 8, Whole Foods Market became the first major grocery chain to say it will require labeling of all foods on its shelves derived from genetically modified organisms. The pervasiveness of genetic modification is a well-kept secret. Ingredients in as much as 75 percent of packaged food have had their DNA altered to resist pests, tolerate excessive heat, or grow with less water. For two decades, seed companies, agricultural product makers, and food processors successfully rebuffed calls to let customers know this with labeling, and more than a decade ago the U.S. Food and Drug Administration concluded that GM foods are indistinguishable from unaltered foods and that labeling was therefore unnecessary.

That policy is out of sync with those in Europe and Japan, and even China and Brazil have tighter requirements. It’s also a disservice to consumers. Polls consistently show a large percentage of Americans favor GM labeling. In 2007, candidate Barack Obama backed it, though as president he’s failed to follow through.