Smucker’s Disables Facebook Wall Comment Display After Onslaught of Anti-GMO Comments

While the U.S. government and all of its food regulatory agencies continue to avoid consumer calls for labeling and control of the spread of the highly controversial genetically modified organisms (GMOs), grassroots campaigns against companies using them continue to be effective.

Even the smallest gestures can put pressure on large companies to make a change, as online activists recently noticed in regards to the Smucker’s company, which is famous for its “traditional” branded line of jellies/jams and other products.

Smucker’s, which is owned by the large food conglomerate J.M. Smucker’s, recently posted a statement in support of GMOs on its website, which can be read in this article. The company also is almost certainly using GMOs in its “Naturals” line (since “sugar” is almost always from GMO beets and the products are so widespread that it would be difficult to source non-GMO beet sugar) and in many of its other products.

Following the statement, we wrote an article refuting Smucker’s talking points in support of GMOs and wondering aloud whether a boycott would occur as a result.

Since that article, a big change has been made to the Smucker’s Facebook page as a result of pressure from online activists over their support of GMOs.

Smuckers Disables Facebook Comments Over GMOs

The article came out on January 25 and was also posted to the Facebook page March Against Monsanto, which has over 250,000 Facebook fans.

Following the article, dozens of comments were seen added to the Smucker’s Facebook page asking the company why they still support GMOs.

In response, it appears as if Smucker’s has disabled wall comments from showing up on the page entirely. Since online activists and concerned parents are not able to post on the company’s wall anymore, they have taken to posting in the comments section under each individual picture. Representatives from the company have been saying on Facebook that they’re they will share the comments on GMOs internally.

You can view the comments against GMOs by visiting Smucker’s Facebook page here.

Did Smucker’s Make the Right Move?

While disabling the Facebook wall may mitigate the flood of comments Smucker’s received in the short term, it likely won’t do much to stop consumers from raising awareness on the page.

Comments under photos are actually more visible to the average visitor, and more capable of conveying that their may be something wrong with the product to fans of the page.

Many have speculated that GMO freedom activists have made an impact on Kellogg’s bottom line with their ongoing awareness campaigns on Facebook, and they certainly made a difference for Cheerios and Grape Nuts, which announced the removal of GMO ingredients recently.

If you’d like to weigh in on the Smucker’s page about GMOs, you can visit the page here.

 

 

 

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About Nick Meyer

Nick Meyer is a journalist who's been published in the Detroit Free Press, Dallas Morning News and several other outlets. He founded AltHealthWORKS in 2012 to showcase extraordinary stories of healing and the power of organic living, stories the mainstream media always seemed to miss. Check out Nick's Amazon best-seller 'Dirt Cheap Organic: 101 Tips For Going Organic on a Budget' by clicking here, as well as its sequel Dirt Cheap Weight Loss.