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 Whole Foods Market, the grocery chain, on Friday became the first retailer in the United States to require labeling of all genetically modified foods sold in its stores, a move that some experts said could radically alter the food industry. Many popular processed foods - including soy milk, soup and breakfast cereal - are made with soybeans, corn and other biotech crops whose genetic traits have been manipulated, often to make them resistant to insects and pesticides. Efforts are under way to produce a genetically altered apple that will spoil less quickly, as well as genetically altered salmon that will grow faster. Whole Foods said the prevalence of GMOs in the United States, coupled with a lack of labeling requirements, has made it very difficult for retailers to source non-GMO options and for consumers to identify them. Since labeling is already required in the European Union, products in its seven stores in Britain are already marked if they contain genetically modified ingredients. The labels currently used show that a product has been verified as free of genetically engineered ingredients by the Non GMO Project, a nonprofit certification organization.  Retail Whole Foods plans GMO disclosure labels by 2018 
 
 March 8, 2013 at 6:08 PM ET 
 
 Steven Senne / AP 
 
 Whole Foods Markets will require all products sold in its U.S. and Canadian stores to carry a label by 2018 saying whether they contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs), the organic and natural grocery seller said on Friday. In 2009, Whole Foods began submitting products in its 365 Everyday Value private-label line to verification by the Non GMO Project. "We are stepping up our support of certified organic agriculture, where GMOs are not allowed, and we are working together with our supplier partners to grow our non-GMO supply chain," Walter Robb, co-chief executive of Whole Foods, said in a statement.
– In an industry first, Whole Foods promises that all genetically modified food sold in its stores will be clearly labeled as GMO products by 2018, reports NBC News. The chain says there's a growing demand by consumers to choose, but it's difficult to do so because current law doesn't require such labeling. It's also smart business, adds President AC Gallo. “We’ve seen how our customers have responded to the products we do have labeled," he says. “Some of our manufacturers say they’ve seen a 15% increase in sales of products" certified as non-GMO. The move could prove to be a big deal, reports the New York Times. One advocate from the group Just Label It calls it a "game changer" and says it could have the same effect as Walmart's decision a while back to stop selling milk from cows injected with growth hormone. As a result of Walmart's move, relatively few dairy cows around the US now get the hormone.