Yesterday’s announcement by Chipotle that it start serving food only made with non-GMO ingredients was not a surprise. After all they have built their brand based on a consistent messaging plan that set them apart from their competition by positioning themselves as doing what is best for the land, farmers, animals, and of course their customers.

The USDA is soliciting public input on its biotech authority.

On Monday, Chipotle Mexican Grill said it was G-M-Over It. All 1,800 or so restaurants would stop serving food that had been genetically modified, making Chipotle the first national chain "to cook only with non-GMO ingredients." And the Internet lost its mind.

Courts. Federal, state, and local laws. It's difficult to keep up with all of the developments around genetically modified foods.

When a US district court judge in Vermont ruled against powerful food industry groups on Monday, allowing the state’s plans to require food labeling for genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to move forward, it felt like a victory to the many groups advocating for US consumers’ right to know what goes into their food.

Since GMOs were approved for commercial use, and then first planted into U.S. soil in 1996, their production has increased dramatically. More than 90% of all soybean cotton and corn acreage in the U.S. is used to grow genetically engineered crops.

April 27, 2015 (Washington, DC)--Today, Center for Food Safety (CFS) hailed the just-issued federal court decision from the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont affirming the constitutionality of Vermont’s genetically engineered food labeling law, Act 120. The ruling fully denied the preliminary injunction motion brought by the Grocery Manufacturer’s Association, Snack Food Association, and other plaintiffs to try and halt the law’s implementation, and granted the State of Vermont’s motion to dismiss on several claims.

“This important ruling affirms the constitutionality of genetically engineered food labeling, as well as the rights of Vermonters and U.S. citizens across the country,” said George Kimbrell, senior attorney for Center for Food Safety and counsel in the case. “Americans are demanding the right to know if their food is produced through genetic engineering, for health, environmental and many other reasons. This decision is a crucial step in protecting those rights.”

"What a victory for Vermont consumers," said Paul Burns, executive director of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group. "From the beginning, we have said that Vermonters have substantial interests in knowing whether their food has been genetically engineered. This ruling brings us one giant step closer to that reality."

Act 120 was signed into law on May 8, 2014. The Grocery Manufacturer’s Association (GMA), which represents the country’s largest food manufacturers and has poured tens of millions of dollars into anti-labeling campaigns in other states, sued Vermont just over a month after the bill was signed into law.

A U.S. District Court judge ruled against industry groups' attempt to stop the law, but the battle's still on.

Dr. Oz is in trouble again. Last week, ten doctors from around the country sent a letter to the dean of medicine at Columbia, arguing that Dr. Mehmet Oz and his “disdain for science and for evidence-based medicine” have no business holding a faculty position at the university.

The United States underscored Friday its opposition to a new European Union plan to allow member states to block genetically engineered imports after bilateral talks on a transatlantic free-trade pact.