What is the NBFDS and Why Does It Matter?

4 Min Read By Rachel Lowe

In 2016, Congress passed the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Law. That 2016 law required the USDA to issue a set of rules providing national uniformity for the mandatory disclosure of bioengineered foods (also called BE foods). The USDA announced those final rules – the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard (NBFDS) – on December 20, 2018.The NBFDS generally requires foods to bear a specified disclosure if they contain ingredients that are either on the USDA’s List of Bioengineered Foods or are known to be bioengineered, subject to a number of limitations and exemptions. The NBFDS has not garnered the attention it deserves, possibly because the government was shut down just days later. 

Love It or Hate ItSome stakeholders embrace the new rule. The Food Marketing Institute stated“FMI commends USDA for introducing a more precise vocabulary into the public discourse regarding biotechnology in food production.” Others, not so much. The Non-GMO Project wrote…