Bertolli and the Non-GMO Project

I ran out of olive oil.  I buy the stuff by the gallon usually, but my local grocery store had some 500 ml bottles on sale for $9.89, but buy-one-get-one-free, so 1 liter of olive oil for about ten bucks. Not too bad.

It was Bertolli brand.  I put it in my cart and then I saw it-- the Non-GMO Project label, the label that certified that no GMO olives were used in the preparation of the oil.  They are telling the truth because there are no genetically engineered olives, so all olive oil is "non-GMO". 

So I put back the Bertolli product and instead got a liter of Colavita olive oil for about forty cents more. Neither features the butterfly of credulity. 

Instead of a product that sports fear-based marketing to science-hostile interests, I bought a liter of general purpose olive oil for cooking and a liter of a higher quality oil for special applications.

It gets much worse.  The Bertolli website features six products under "olive oils". 

But wait!  Some of these must contain oil from genetically engineered olives.  I never knew such things existed (because they don't) but you can filter products by "Non-GMO" options. 

And how many dropped out of the search?   ZERO!  All olive oil is comes from non-genetically-engineered olives, every last drop.  So the filter removes nothing. 

It is a useless bauble, a deliberate means to misinform the consumer that simply has concerns about their food. Bertolli plays right into the deception of food misinformation. 

Now I can add Bertolli to my list of companies to not support.  I will not let my dollars be used to fund an organization that misinforms the public, fights against farmer choice, and harms technology from reaching those in food insecure regions of the world where it is desperately needed.

Avoid the label.  Don't buy the products.  Remember who exploited fear-based marketing long after this dangerous trend has passed.