GMOs as Processing Inputs

How does OMRI evaluate genetically engineered (GE) materials for use as ingredients in processed organic food products labeled as “organic” or “made with organic ingredients”?

By Taryn Kennedy

Because input materials for processing and handling can come in direct contact with food, or are included as ingredients, the review standards for these materials are more restrictive than the standards for crop and livestock inputs. When reviewing GE materials for processing and handling, OMRI distinguishes between “nonorganic ingredients,” such as citric or lactic acid, corn starch or vegetable oils, and “processing aids,” including enzymes, yeast and lactic acid.

Processing aids that are produced by GE organisms are prohibited. For example, the enzyme chymosin (rennet) is allowed as a processing aid when derived from the stomach lining of ruminants. However, chymosin can also be produced using GMOs, such as the yeast Kluyveromyces lactis, modified with genes from cattle, a circumstance under which it is considered a product of excluded methods, and therefore prohibited. Citric acid is produced using the fungus Aspergillus niger, but both GMO and non-GMO strains of the fungus are available. If A. niger is genetically modified to produce greater amounts of citric acid, then the citric acid produced is derived from an excluded method and is likewise prohibited. Lactic acid is allowed as a nonorganic ingredient or processing aid as long as the bacteria that ferment the whey to produce it are not GE. In addition, no GE carriers or fillers may be added to processing aids.

If the microorganism is not GE but the substrate that the microbe consumes for growth consists of GE ingredients, the resulting yeasts, enzymes and other metabolic byproducts are generally not considered products of excluded methods. For example, citric acid is allowed when produced from a non-GE strain of A. niger, even if the fermentation substrate used contains a GE trait (e.g., molasses or high fructose corn syrup from GMO beet sugar). Because the fungus biologically transforms GE protein in the substrate, the final citric acid product would be allowed as a non-GMO ingredient. Ingredients that are not biologically transformed and remain in the final product, such as corn starch and vegetable oils, must be certified organic and therefore wholly derived from non-GE sources. In addition, no GE carriers or fillers may be added to processing aids or ingredients.

OMRI’s evaluation of genetic engineering is based on input from our Advisory Council, and how they interpreted the excluded methods requirements of the USDA organic standards. As the organic standards evolve and new clarifications are made, OMRI’s standards and requirements are updated as well. The NOSB Materials/GMO ad hoc subcommittee continues to discuss excluded methods, and may have a new discussion document for the spring 2021 meeting.

This article was originally published in the spring 2015 edition of the OMRI Materials Review Newsletter, and was reviewed and updated in November 2020 by Senior Technical Coordinator Peter Bungum.