SEATTLE (August 1, 2014) – Whole Foods Market announced today that, for customers shopping in Oregon and Washington who are looking to avoid GMOs, making selections from the prepared foods department just got much easier.
All of the housemade, chef-prepared dishes now use only Non-GMO Project Verified chicken. This includes rotisserie chickens. Whole Foods Market has been working with NW Poultry in Mt. Vernon, Washington, to source humanely raised chickens raised on a diet free of GMOs. This is a key milestone as Whole Foods Market works closely with its supplier partners to increase the organic and Non-GMO alternatives for many of the products customers desire.
Whole Foods Market currently sells more than 6,800 grocery items, represented by more than 500 brands, that are verified non-GMO. This is more than any retailer in North America.
“It’s clear from listening to our customers that we’ve reached a tipping point when it comes to their preference for greater availability of products free from GMO ingredients,” said Joe Rogoff, Whole Foods Market’s Regional President of the Pacific Northwest. “Making this transition hasn’t been easy, but we’ve worked very hard with our supplier partners who share our commitment transparency and we’re very excited to share these Non-GMO Project Verified chicken dishes with our customers.”
Whole Foods Market currently has eight stores and one mobile grocery location in the state of Oregon and seven stores in Washington state.
In March 2013, Whole Foods Market became the first national grocer to set a deadline for full GMO transparency. By 2018, all food in Whole Foods Market’s U.S. and Canadian stores must be labeled to indicate if it contains GMOs.
