What is in this article?:
- ConAgra sued for labeling GM cooking oils 'natural'
- A new future for natural food labeling?
Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has yet to define the term natural, industry experts hope the ConAgra Foods lawsuit sets a precedent for the word's use in labeling processed foods.
A New York City law firm filed a class-action suit against Omaha, Neb.-based ConAgra Foods for labeling its four Wesson brand cooking oils 100% natural, even though they're made from genetically modified organisms.
Milberg LLP filed a suit against the agribusiness giant in June, saying the company's Wesson oil contains genetically modified ingredients and therefore does not qualify as natural. The plaintiff in the case said he relied on the oil's 100% natural label to ensure he was choosing a healthy product.
"Anyone who is labeling something natural that contains genetically engineered ingredients is misleading consumers and providing fraudulent labeling," said George Kimbrell, senior attorney for the Center for Food Safety, a nonprofit public health organization that has initiated landmark legal actions to halt the planting of GM crops and supports the Milberg suit. "ConAgra and other manufactures should be prohibited from making these types of claims."
It could be Monsanto's own definition of genetically modified organisms that seals the case. The world's largest producer of genetically modified seeds defines GMOs as "plants or animals that have had their genetic makeup altered to exhibit traits that are not naturally theirs."