by staff
Dannon claims the company was blindsided Monday when a half-dozen agriculture groups attacked the companies shift away from GMO ingredients. Groups including the American Farm Bureau Federation sent Dannon a letter calling the switch ?marketing puffery.? Dannon?s CEO says the company was surprised by the ?divisive and misinformed letter.?
Dannon announced back in April the company would switch to non-GMO dairy feed for three of its flagship brands and begin labeling GMO products in other brands next year.
Politico reports Dannon stood by its sustainability claims, noting the company has built a ?direct and transparent? relationship with dairy farmers. However, the letter by agriculture groups says ?It appears to be an attempt to gain lost sales from your competitors by using fear-based marketing and trendy buzzwords.? The groups say ?neither farmers nor consumers should be used as pawns in food marketing wars.?
