Nestlé USA: Misleading Non-GMO seal

By filing a lawsuit against Nestlé, a woman from California alleged that the US company misleads consumers by using its ‘No GMO ingredients’ seal as it might easily be confused with the Non-GMO Project Verified Seal, reports CBS News.

Nestlé USA has developed its own symbol for Non-GMO products. The company declared that their label meets federal standards and the respective products go through international inspection and testing by the certification company SGS. However, federal standards are much lower than the standards that manufacturers have to meet when making use of the Non-GMO Project's verification label.

Probably no consequences for Nestlé

Recently, Nestlé has been alleged of having made a label for GMO-free products that might be confused with the label of the Non-GMO Project’s seal. Hence, consumers could think that Nestlé’s label says the same as the Non-GMO Project’s label which, in contrast to Nestlé’s label, is subject to strict testing and many requirements.

Indeed, the two labels look similar and are almost the same size, but are far from being indistinguishable. Nevertheless, consumers might not be able to tell the two seals apart and are therefore likely to buy products not fulfilling their expected standards. As the US federal government is finalizing new GMO rules at the moment, the lawsuit could end without any consequences. However, attorneys still agree that Nestlé’s seal might lead to confusion. In the end, the problem is likely to be on the site of the Non-GMO Project. Because it will have to work harder on informing people about the difference of their label compared to seals launched by certain companies.

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