As sales of non-GMO foods zoom, competitors are watching, says the NPR blog The Salt. “The demand for these foods falls under what the industry calls the ‘health halo,’ the perception that a food is healthy,” even if they might not be. Non-GMO potato chips still carry a lot of salt and fat, for example. Demand for non-GMO food is outpacing organic food, itself a growing share of the U.S. food market. Lars Perner, a marketing professor at USC says that for some families the premium price for organic food may be too high, so buying non-GMO “may be a much more affordable sense of wholesomeness.” The organic sector says its standards are more stringent – no chemical fertilizers or pesticides, for instance – and its products always are non-GMO.
California Certified Organic Farmers, a trade group as well as certifying agent, launched a seal in April that says “Organic is non-GMO and more” to emphasize that organic products “are not only non-GMO but also farmed ecologically.”