Does becoming “Non-GMO Project Verified” require testing of every finished product?
No. While testing is required for risk ingredients (a list of risk ingredients can be found on p. 32 of the Non-GMO Project Standard), our program is a process-based verification designed to employ testing as a best practice at the most efficient point in the production chain. Typically, this is where ingredients are least processed and consolidated in the largest amounts, for example, during initial processing. From there, traceability and segregation ensure that the tested ingredient maintains its purity. The Non-GMO Project Standard is flexible, and allows testing to occur at any one of a variety of places in the production chain, but testing of finished product (except as an occasional quality control measure) is not encouraged.
