Does U.S. Law Require Labels on Genetically Modified Foods?

Yes. Under federal law, most packaged foods that contain detectable modified genetic material must carry a “bioengineered” disclosure, and that requirement has been mandatory since January 1, 2022. So the short answer to whether U.S. law requires labels on genetically modified foods is that it does, but with a narrower reach than most shoppers assume. The rule uses the word “bioengineered” instead of “GMO,” applies only when the modified genetic material is still detectable in the finished product, and carves out several large categories of food entirely.

What the Federal Rule Actually Requires

Congress passed the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Law in July 2016, and the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service built out the regulation known as the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard (NBFDS).¹² It is the sole nationwide standard: the federal law preempts state and local GMO labeling rules, so no state can require its own differing label on food moving in interstate commerce.

A “bioengineered food” under the rule is one that contains genetic material modified through laboratory techniques that could not have been created through conventional breeding or found in nature.¹ The word that does the real work is “detectable.” Once processing destroys the modified DNA, disclosure is no longer required. Soybean oil pressed from a bioengineered soybean, for instance, does not need a label if testing cannot find modified genetic material in the finished oil.³

This is why a shopper can walk down an aisle stocked with products made from bioengineered crops and see very few labels. A bag of whole sweet corn from a bioengineered variety needs disclosure. The high-fructose corn syrup in a soft drink made from that same corn typically does not, because refining strips the detectable genetic material out.

The USDA also publishes an official List of Bioengineered Foods, which currently includes crops such as alfalfa, canola, corn, cotton, soybean, sugarbeet, potato, papaya, certain squash and eggplant varieties, Arctic apples, and AquAdvantage salmon. Being on the list does not automatically trigger a label; the detectability threshold still applies. And a food not on the list still requires disclosure if the company’s own records show it is bioengineered.⁴

What Is Exempt

Several large categories fall entirely outside the disclosure requirement.⁵

Food served in restaurants, cafeterias, food trucks, airplanes, and similar establishments.³
Very small manufacturers with annual receipts below $2.5 million.³
Foods where bioengineered content is unintentional and falls below 5% per ingredient.⁵
Products certified under the USDA National Organic Program.⁵
Meat, eggs, and dairy from animals that ate bioengineered feed. The animal-derived food is not considered bioengineered on that basis alone.⁵

The animal-feed exemption has a big real-world footprint. Most corn and soybeans grown in the United States are bioengineered, and much of that harvest becomes animal feed. The resulting chicken, beef, milk, and eggs carry no label. Products where meat, poultry, or egg is the primary ingredient, or the second ingredient after water, stock, or broth, also generally sit outside the standard’s scope.

How the Label Looks on a Package

When a disclosure is required, manufacturers can choose among a few methods.⁶ The two most straightforward are on-package text and the official USDA symbol. Single-ingredient products use the phrase “bioengineered food”; multi-ingredient products state “contains bioengineered food ingredients.” The official symbol, available in color or black and white, can appear instead of or alongside the text.

The disclosure has to go on the information panel near the nutrition facts, the principal display panel (usually the front), or another panel a shopper would reasonably see. The regulation does not specify a minimum font or symbol size, but it does require that the disclosure be “prominent and conspicuous” and “likely to be read and understood by the consumer.”⁶

QR Codes and Text Messages Are on Their Way Out

The original regulation also let manufacturers disclose through a scannable digital link (QR code) or a text message system. Both are now unwinding through the courts. In September 2022, a federal district court in Northern California ruled that the text message option exceeded USDA’s statutory authority and that the QR code option failed to solve the accessibility problem Congress intended it to address.⁷ In October 2025, the Ninth Circuit went further, directing the lower court to vacate both options prospectively.⁸ The appellate court read the statute to allow only three disclosure methods: text, symbol, or electronic or digital link with adequate accessibility alternatives.

Practically, that means the QR-only labels a shopper sees today are living on borrowed time. Manufacturers using them will have to switch to on-package text or the USDA symbol, or rebuild their digital link approach to include the accessibility features the statute requires. The USDA has said it is working on a new rulemaking to address the court’s concerns.⁷

Enforcement Is Weak

The standard exists, but it has limited teeth. The USDA cannot fine a manufacturer or order a recall for violating the disclosure rule. What it can do is investigate a complaint, request records, hold a hearing, and publish its findings. If you think a product is missing a required disclosure, you can file a written complaint with the AMS Administrator by mail or through the AMS website. After the process runs its course, the USDA publishes a summary. The main penalty a violator faces is the reputational cost of being named.⁹

Regulated companies still have to keep records showing compliance, and the USDA focuses its enforcement at the retail level, where consumers actually shop.⁹

“Non-GMO” Labels Are a Different Thing

Many packages carry a voluntary “Non-GMO” or “Non-GMO Project Verified” seal. That is not the federal disclosure. The Non-GMO Project is a nonprofit running its own certification program, and its standards can be stricter than the federal rule and use a broader definition of what counts as genetically modified. A product can be fully compliant with the federal standard, needing no bioengineered disclosure, and still fail Non-GMO Project certification, or the reverse. Voluntary seals reflect market demand, not federal law.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 7 U.S. Code 1639b – Establishment of National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard
2
eCFR. 7 CFR Part 66 – National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard
3
Agricultural Marketing Service. BE Frequently Asked Questions – General
4
Agricultural Marketing Service. List of Bioengineered Foods
5
eCFR. 7 CFR 66.5 – Exemptions
6
Agricultural Marketing Service. BE Frequently Asked Questions – Disclosure
7
Reginfo.gov. National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard; Text Message Disclosures
8
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Natural Grocers v. Rollins
9
Agricultural Marketing Service. BE Frequently Asked Questions – Compliance and Enforcement