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USDA sends final GMO disclosure rule on for review

The USDA has sent the final GMO disclosure rule to the White House Office of Management and Budget.

In May, the USDA released a proposed rule that would label the food as bioengineered, not GMO. There were nearly 9,000 comments on the proposed rule during the public comment period.

The OMB has 90 days to review the rule. If approved, the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard would be published in the Federal Register.

The bill mandating GMO labeling on food and beverages was signed into law into 2016 and gave the USDA two years to develop a national standard.

The proposed rule offers different options for determining the level of food that should be disclosed and how it should appear on the label. One option would allow the use of bioengineered ingredients up to 5 percent of the total weight of the product before it must be labeled as bioengineered.