DuBreton seeks voluntary transparency amid GM food label shifts
DuBreton, a Canadian organic pork producer, is urging food brands, grocery retailers and supply chain partners to voluntarily disclose information on genetically modified (GM) pork and beef, as Health Canada may allow these products to be sold without labels as early as 2026 — a move the company opposes.
“There is nothing wrong with innovation in food production, but never at the expense of an honest food system,” says Vincent Breton, CEO of the Saint-Bernard-de-Beauce, Que.-based company, in an interview with Canadian Grocer. “Consumers should have the right to decide for themselves whether they want to buy genetically modified foods.”
Although studies have found GM foods safe to eat, critics argue the technology is unnatural, and animal welfare groups say cloning is ethically troubling and potentially cruel. There are also concerns about how quickly cloning technology is advancing and its long-term effects on the food system.
“This needs to be driven by consumer choice, not by industry lobbying,” Breton adds.
Since 2003, Health Canada has required pre-market notifications for “novel foods,” including products derived from Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT) — the main cloning method used in animal food production.
To date, the agency says it has received no such notifications and “therefore, has not authorized any foods derived from SCNT clones, meaning such products cannot be sold in Canada.”
Health Canada proposed removing the pre-market notification requirement for SCNT-cloned cattle and swine after reviewing the scientific evidence in March 2024 alongside the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Environment and Climate Change Canada.
The agencies concluded “foods from healthy cloned cattle and swine and their offspring are as safe and nutritious as foods from traditionally bred animals.”
READ: Transparency is paramount as gene-edited pork approaches market launch
Health Canada is now reviewing feedback from consumers, industry stakeholders and other stakeholders. “A summary report of this consultation will be published and will be available through Health Canada’s online consultation page,” said the agency. “Until the revised policy is finalized, foods derived from SCNT cloned cattle, swine, and their offspring remain subject to pre-market notification.”
The agency confirmed some stakeholders expressed interest in mandatory identification of cloned-animal products.
“Under Health Canada’s mandate, however, additional labelling can only be mandated to address a health or safety risk,” it said in a statement. “As the scientific evidence indicates no such concern, no additional labelling would be required.”
Breton argues that removing the notification requirement ignores strong consumer concerns about genetic modification. He cites a Leger survey of 1,525 Canadians conducted in October 2025: 75% supported blocking imports of cloned-animal products — 54% strongly and 29% somewhat — while 13% were indifferent. Only 8% opposed. DuBreton commissioned the survey.
“That level of concern underscores why transparency must remain a priority,” Breton says.
Sylvain Charlebois, professor of food distribution policy and senior director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University, says Health Canada needs to improve its communication with the public.
“Their position is that if there’s no scientific or health risk, why communicate anything? But I see communication as an opportunity to help consumers understand how food is made and how new technologies can improve efficiency,” he says. “For example, if consumers learned that cloned pork was actually half the price of conventional pork, I suspect a growing number would choose it.”
Failing to communicate can have real consequences, Charlebois adds. He points to genetically modified AquAdvantage salmon, approved by Health Canada without special labeling after the agency concluded the product posed no new health or safety risk. The lack of transparency triggered public backlash, and more than 60 major retailers across Canada and the U.S., including Walmart, Costco, Sobeys, Metro and Whole Foods, pledged not to carry the product.
Production at the company’s Canadian facility was halted in 2023 and fully shut down by late 2024.
