As Applegate, a subsidiary of Hormel Foods Corp., launches its first ever Non-GMO Project Verified products, the company also announces plans to remove genetically modified organisms (GMO) from its entire supply chain.
While the company has already removed GMO ingredients from all of its products, the natural and organic brand is now focusing on animal feed, which the company called “a monumental undertaking” due to a majority of crops used for animal feed, in the United States, being genetically modified.
"It's very significant that today Applegate is promising to go even further on our quest for transparency and traceability in removing GMOs from our entire supply chain, including the most problematic part—animal feed," said Steve Lykken, Applegate’s president, in a statement. "Exactly a year ago today, Applegate became a stand-alone subsidiary of Hormel Foods with the promise that we would continue to lead in changing the meat we eat, and that's exactly what we're doing."
Applegate’s new products, Organics Chicken Nuggets and Organics Gluten-free Chicken Nuggets, have been verified by the Non-GMO Project. To stay in the Non-GMO Project Standard, the company must submit to inspections, annual audits and each product will receive ongoing test for major GMO risk ingredients.
Applegate products are already free of artificial ingredients or preservatives, added chemical nitrites, nitrates or phosphates, raised without antibiotics or hormones, fed a vegetarian or 100% grass diet and treated with humane animal standards.
"The Applegate brand was built on a foundation of trust with consumers," said Lykken. "By pursuing third-party certification on GMO avoidance for all of our products, we're adding another layer of credibility and providing consumers the information they need to confidently make the best choices for themselves and their families."
Posted on WholeFoods Magazine Online 7/20/2016
