(Dow Jones) -- Candy maker Mars Inc. joins a small group of U.S. food companies adding special labels to products that contain genetically modified organisms.
Mars, which makes M&M's chocolate and Wrigley gum, said it is adding GMO labels to its foods across the U.S. in response to the looming deadline of a Vermont law that requires such disclosure.
Though Vermont's a tiny market for global powerhouses like Mars, it is having an outsize effect on the industry with the nation's first GMO labeling mandate. Food makers say it would be too complex and expensive to create a separate distribution network for the 626,000-person state.
As a result, Campbell Soup Co. in January said it would begin labeling its soup and cookies made with GMOs. General Mills Inc. followed with a similar statement Friday.
A Mars spokesman said the company updated its website Friday to reflect its decision. "We firmly believe GM ingredients are safe," the website states, but, "We're also committed to being transparent." About one-third of its more than $33 billion in annual sales comes from North America.
Rival Hershey Co. has said it is working on removing GMOs from its chocolate and snacks, where practical. But it hasn't gone so far as to put GMO labels on its packaging.
This isn't the first time Mars has diverged from the broader industry on a political issue. Last year, it became one of the few U.S. food giants to support calling out added sugar on nutrition facts panels, which federal regulators proposed in 2014.