Terms Used In Vermont Statutes Title 9 Sec. 3043

  • Food: means food intended for human consumption. See
  • Genetic engineering: is a process by which a food is produced from an organism or organisms in which the genetic material has been changed through the application of:

  • Manufacturer: means a person who:

  • Processed food: means any food other than a raw agricultural commodity and includes any food produced from a raw agricultural commodity that has been subjected to processing such as canning, smoking, pressing, cooking, freezing, dehydration, fermentation, or milling. See
  • Raw agricultural commodity: means any food in its raw or natural state, including any fruit or vegetable that is washed, colored, or otherwise treated in its unpeeled natural form prior to marketing. See

§ 3043. Labeling of food produced with genetic engineering

(a) Except as set forth in section 3044 of this title, food offered for sale by a retailer after July 1, 2016 shall be labeled as produced entirely or in part from genetic engineering if it is a product:

(1) offered for retail sale in Vermont; and

(2) entirely or partially produced with genetic engineering.

(b) If a food is required to be labeled under subsection (a) of this section, it shall be labeled as follows:

(1) in the case of a packaged raw agricultural commodity, the manufacturer shall label the package offered for retail sale, with the clear and conspicuous words “produced with genetic engineering”;

(2) in the case of any raw agricultural commodity that is not separately packaged, the retailer shall post a label appearing on the retail store shelf or bin in which the commodity is displayed for sale with the clear and conspicuous words “produced with genetic engineering”; or

(3) in the case of any processed food that contains a product or products of genetic engineering, the manufacturer shall label the package in which the processed food is offered for sale with the words: “partially produced with genetic engineering”; “may be produced with genetic engineering”; or “produced with genetic engineering.”

(c) Except as set forth under section 3044 of this title, a manufacturer of a food produced entirely or in part from genetic engineering shall not label the product on the package, in signage, or in advertising as “natural,” “naturally made,” “naturally grown,” “all natural,” or any words of similar import that would have a tendency to mislead a consumer.

(d) This section and the requirements of this chapter shall not be construed to require:

(1) the listing or identification of any ingredient or ingredients that were genetically engineered; or

(2) the placement of the term “genetically engineered” immediately preceding any common name or primary product descriptor of a food. (Added 2013, No. 120 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. July 1, 2016.)