Non-GMO Project Verified: what the butterfly seal covers

The Non-GMO Project is a nonprofit that writes one document, the Non-GMO Project Standard, and licenses the butterfly seal to products that comply with it. The current edition is Version 17, which was published and took effect on October 1, 2026.

The Standard sorts every ingredient three ways: how much of the product it makes up, how likely it is to come from a genetically modified organism, and whether it can be tested. An ingredient at 5% or more of the finished product is major, one from 0.5% up to 5% is minor, and anything under 0.5% is micro. Major ingredients from testable high-risk crops need ongoing testing. Ingredients that cannot be tested need a signed affidavit instead.

The Standard counts newer techniques as genetic modification too. It names gene editing methods such as CRISPR and TALEN alongside older recombinant DNA methods, and it treats anything derived from a modified organism, such as oil pressed from modified corn, as modified.

The Standard says absence of all GMOs is the target for every verified product. In practice it sets action thresholds: the level of modified material above which a tested high-risk ingredient may not be intentionally used. For crops that are not on the high-risk list, the Standard allows no presence at all.

High risk means a genetically modified version is widely available commercially. Appendix B of Version 17 gives an exhaustive crop list, and sugarcane joins it on December 1, 2028. Meat, dairy, eggs, honey and other animal-derived ingredients are also high risk, because of what the animals are fed.

The Project does not evaluate products itself. It works with four independent technical administrators, and the brand picks one. The administrator reviews formulas, supplier documents and test results, then reviews each verified product again every year at renewal. All test results from the preceding year are handed in at that point.

The Standard requires an annual onsite inspection for facilities that process a major high-risk ingredient alongside a non-compliant version of the same ingredient on shared equipment. Broader inspection rules in Sections 5.2 to 5.6 take effect on November 1, 2027. The Project also runs its own surveillance testing of verified products.

These two seals answer different questions. The butterfly is about genetic engineering and nothing else. USDA Organic already prohibits genetic engineering, and it also sets rules for how the crop or animal was raised. So a product with only the butterfly can come from conventional farming, while an organic product is non-GMO by rule.

The Project points out one difference in its favor: the National Organic Program does not require GMO testing and has no action threshold, while the Standard requires testing of major high-risk ingredients. That is why you will often see both seals together on organic snacks, plant milks and multivitamins. Our guide to organic vs natural vs non-GMO compares the three words side by side.