Whole Foods, the organic-oriented but not exclusively organic supermarket chain with 8 stores in Canada and more than 325 in the United States, has announced last week that all products in its stores that contain Genetically Modified Organisms will be labeled as such by 2018.

The Company indicates that this move will help make it easier for food processors and suppliers to source non-GMO ingredients.  The Company has committed to issue progress reports as the program is implemented and states that the initiative is a response to customer requests for transparency on GMOs. GMOs are already not allowed in organic food in both Canada and the US.

The announcement does not affect UK stores where GMO labels are already in use.

Whole Foods’ announcement is likely to spur other retailers, especially smaller stores,  to follow suit and may reopen the North American debate about use of GMOs in agriculture. Farmers and processors who wish to retain Whole Foods and its suppliers as customers will feel pressure to move to non-GMO varieties of foodstuffs.

The Whole Foods announcement is at http://media.wholefoodsmarket.com/news/whole-foods-market-commits-to-full-gmo-transparency