Simple Mills Among the First Brands Verified Under the Non-UPF Verified Standard, Charting a New Course for Food Transparency

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb 19, 2026--

Simple Mills, a leading provider of better-for-you crackers, cookies, bars, and baking mixes made with purposeful, nutrient-dense ingredients, is proud to announce that it is among the first brands to earn verification under the Non-UPF Verified Standard. This new third-party certification from the Non-GMO Project identifies foods made without excessive industrial processing, while verifying products that are composed primarily of minimally processed ingredients and free from hyper-engineered additives.

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As a member of the pilot program, Simple Mills drew on more than a decade of rigorous ingredient standards to collaborate with the Non-GMO Project and provide category expertise to help define the new standard. Since its inception, the brand’s mission has been to revolutionize the way food is made, by focusing on simple and nutritious ingredients that offer extraordinary taste and texture. By using nutrient-dense ingredients that maximize nutrition along with thoughtful processing methods that help maintain nutrient-integrity, Simple Mills has successfully reimagined the center aisles of grocery stores with transparency and ingredient integrity in mind.

“From day one we set out to make food differently, by using stunningly simple ingredients that not only offer exceptional taste and texture, but provide meaningful nourishment,” said Katlin Smith, Founder and CEO of Simple Mills. “Our team has always believed in this vision and led the way in reimagining beloved foods by pioneering the use of unique nutrient-dense nut, seed, vegetable, and legume flours that make it easier for consumers to get more from their snacks. We’re thrilled to see the industry establishing a standard that offers consumers the transparency they deserve – and makes it easier for them to choose better options they can feel good about.”

Bringing Purpose Back to the Plate

Simple Mills’ purposeful approach to food design is proof that snacks can be minimally processed, nutritious, and delicious at the same time.

The brand’s commitment to rigorous, high-integrity product tenets has governed its approach to food design since its founding in 2012. Simple Mills’ commitment to using nutrient-dense ingredients in novel ways that maximize nutrition and flavor inherently aligns with the Non-UPF Verified Standard. Each of its ingredients, like nuts, seeds, vegetables, and legumes are whole food sources that offer nutrition, taste, and texture. The brand doesn’t hide its ingredients. It celebrates them and leads with transparency through short ingredient lists that are clearly identified on packaging, so consumers can quickly see exactly what they’re getting in every bite.

Simple Mills’ ingredients are minimally processed using only gentle, physical extraction methods and no harsh chemicals. The brand never uses artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, or isolated gums, and only uses sweeteners like coconut sugar, molasses, honey, and cane sugar. In every product, the brand relies on the inherent properties of its ingredients to do the work.

This staunch commitment to ingredient quality and integrity was well ahead of its time and helped provide an industry-wide blueprint for today’s definition of “Non-Ultra Processed Foods” long before the term ever entered the zeitgeist. By implementing this integrity-based ingredient philosophy across a variety of snacking and baking categories, Simple Mills has created a roadmap on how to deliver nutrient density and greater dietary diversity at scale, while making it easy for consumers to snack with confidence.

Ushering In a New Era of Empowered Shoppers

Americans are increasingly concerned about ultra-processed foods, yet many lack the ability to recognize them. According to research from the Food Integrity Collective, 68% of consumers actively try to avoid ultra-processed foods, while 70% say they struggle to identify them.* The Non-UPF Verified label is designed to help address this gap in education and transparency by providing a clear “green light” marker on shelf.

“These early verified brands, like Simple Mills, have played a critical role in strengthening the Non-UPF Verified Standard through real-world application,” said Megan Westgate, Founder & CEO at the Non-GMO Project. “We are so grateful for their participation because they helped ensure the program is both rigorous and workable, reflecting what responsible food production looks like in practice.”

Simple Mills submitted its entire portfolio across cracker, cookie, bars, and baking mix categories, and to date, 20 products have already been approved. This represents 40% of the total Simple Mills portfolio, with most, if not all, products anticipated to be verified later this year.

To earn Non-UPF Verification, a product must be made primarily from minimally processed ingredients, meet strict formulation criteria, and avoid prohibited additives and high-impact industrial processing methods.

Simple Mills’ portfolio of crackers, cookies, bars, and baking mixes are sold in more than 30,000 stores across the country including Whole Foods, Sprouts, Target, Walmart, and Costco, alongside a strong e-commerce presence on Amazon. For more information on the brand’s commitment to human and planetary health and the Non-UPF Verified program, please visit www.simplemills.com.

About Simple Mills

Founded in 2012, Simple Mills is a leading provider of better-for-you crackers, cookies, snack bars, and baking mixes made with simple and nutritious high-quality ingredients that deliver extraordinary taste.

The brand, which joined the Flowers Foods (NYSE: FLO) portfolio in 2025, has disrupted center-aisle grocery categories, becoming a leading natural cracker, cookie, and baking mix brand in MULO+, with distribution in over 30,000 stores nationwide. Its mission is to revolutionize the way food is made to nourish people and planet. For more information, visit www.simplemills.com.

About Non-UPF Verified and the Non-GMO Project

Non-UPF Verified is a certification launched by the Non-GMO Project under the umbrella of the Food Integrity Collective, continuing the nonprofit organization's commitment to informed choice and a food system that truly nourishes life. Founded in 2007, the Non-GMO Project is a mission-driven nonprofit organization dedicated to collaboratively creating a retail food system that promotes and restores health in humans, communities, and the broader collective of life on Earth. The Project's Butterfly seal remains North America's most trusted third-party verification for GMO avoidance, backed by rigorous standards and appearing on more than 63,000 verified products. Learn more at www.nongmoproject.org.

Sources

* Food Integrity Collective’s report: “Disconnected”

Non-UPF Verified

LONDON (AP) — He was reportedly his mother Queen Elizabeth II’s favorite, but the former Prince Andrew has long been a headache for Britain's royal family.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested Thursday, his 66th birthday, on suspicion of misconduct in public office in an inquiry stemming from his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. He is the first senior British royal to be arrested since King Charles I, almost 400 years ago.

Born a prince in 1960, Andrew is the third child and second son of the queen and her husband Prince Philip. His elder brother Charles was destined for the throne. Andrew took a tried-and-tested route for younger royal sons: military service.

After 22 years in the Royal Navy, including combat operations as a helicopter pilot during the 1982 Falklands War, Andrew was named Britain’s special representative for international trade and investment in 2001. His frequent taxpayer-funded travel saw him dubbed “Air Miles Andy” by the press.

The current police investigation stems from that period. It follows documents in recently released Epstein files that suggest Andrew passed on official government documents to the late financier when he was a trade envoy. The former prince has not been charged with a crime. He has long denied any wrongdoing over his Epstein links.

Once a subject of media fascination for his love life, the man the tabloids dubbed “Randy Andy” became a regular source of headlines because of his money woes and links to questionable characters, including Epstein, the American financier and convicted sex offender.

The then-prince's business associations were the subject of tabloid stories stretching back to at least 2007, when he sold his house near Windsor Castle for 20% over the 15 million pound asking price. The buyer was reported to be Timur Kulibayev, son-in-law of then-Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, raising concerns that the deal was an attempt to buy influence in Britain.

Mountbatten-Windsor was forced to step down from the trade role in 2011 amid growing concern about his friendship with Epstein, who had been sentenced to 18 months in prison in 2008 after pleading guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution.

In 2015, U.S. court documents contained allegations that Andrew had sex with a woman three times between 1999 and 2002 in London, New York and on Epstein’s private Caribbean island, including when she was a minor under U.S. law. He denied having ever met the woman, later identified as Virginia Roberts Giuffre.

After Epstein was arrested again in 2019, Andrew gave a disastrous interview to the BBC’s Newsnight program, in which he tried to explain away his contacts with Epstein. It backfired — he was widely criticized for giving unbelievable explanations and failing to show empathy for Epstein’s victims.

Amid the backlash, Andrew announced on Nov. 20, 2019, that he was giving up public duties and charity roles “for the foreseeable future.”

In August 2021, Giuffre sued Andrew in a New York court, alleging that the prince had sex with her when she was 17. Andrew continued to deny the allegations, but he was stripped of all military affiliations and royal charity work.

Andrew ultimately settled the case for an undisclosed sum. While he didn’t admit wrongdoing, Andrew did acknowledge Giuffre’s suffering as a victim of sex trafficking. Giuffre died by suicide in April 2025, aged 41.

In 2024, a court case revealed Andrew’s relationship with a businessman and suspected Chinese spy who was barred from the United Kingdom as a threat to national security. Authorities were concerned that the man could have misused his influence over Andrew, according to court documents.

After emails emerged showing Andrew remained in contact with Epstein longer than he previously claimed and Giuffre's posthumous memoir brought new allegations, King Charles III in October stripped his brother of his titles of prince and Duke of York and evicted him from his Royal Lodge mansion in Windsor.

The release of millions of pages of Epstein files by the U.S. Department of Justice last month sparked new scrutiny.

Now Andrew is in police custody. Despite being stripped of his title, he remains eighth in line to the British throne. A law would have to be passed to remove him from the line of succession.

He married Sarah Ferguson in 1986 and they had two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, before divorcing a decade later. Ferguson also is facing questions about her friendship with Epstein.

This story has been corrected to show that Andrew is the third child of Queen Elizabeth II, not the second.

FILE - Britain's Prince Andrew, center, and his daughters Princess Eugenie, left, and Princess Beatrice leave Westminster Abbey after the wedding of Prince William to Catherine Middleton, in London, April 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Gero Breloer, File)

FILE - The Duke of York holds week-old Princess Eugenie Victoria Helena outside Portland Hospital in London, March 30, 1990. (AP Photo/Peter Kemp, File)

FILE - Prince Andrew, who joins 702 Naval Air Squadron at Portland, Dorset on Sept. 19, 1983. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - Prince Andrew leaves St. Giles Cathedral after the arrival of the coffin containing the remains of his mother Queen Elizabeth, in Edinburgh, Scotland, Sept. 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, File)