A federal court has ruled that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) made an “error” by allowing food corporations to label products containing genetically engineered (GE) ingredients using tricky QR codes as opposed to transparent words.

A USDA rule that took effect earlier this year requires food made with genetically modified (GMO) ingredients to be labeled in some clear way, the simplest specified way being with the word “bioengineered.” If food manufacturers do not like using words, then the USDA specified that a QR code will suffice.

The court decided that the USDA’s stipulation of a QR code as opposed to transparent labeling is unacceptable because this “standalone electronic disclosure” does not conform to the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard, which was passed six years ago as an amendment to the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946.