Company says no more GMO ingredients in Smart Balance spreads

(LA Times) Smart Balance says it will change the ingredients in its butter-like spreads to make sure they include no genetically modified organisms.

“I’ve been in the food industry for 35 years. I have never seen a consumer issue come on this fast,” said Stephen Hughes, chairman and chief executive of Boulder Brands, the parent company of Smart Balance. “Forty-three percent of our consumers want to see a non-GMO Smart Balance.”

Some of the newly formulated products will be on store shelves in March, with the process completed in early summer. The price won’t go up, the company said.

Smart Balance’s move follows the announcement in January by General Mills that it would no longer use genetically modified corn starch and sugar cane in its Cheerios.

Hughes said consumers are looking for ingredients lists that are easy to understand, less processed products. “They think what we put in our food matters, and frankly, the same applies to what we leave out."


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