Congress having a food fight over GMO labeling
By Tony Dokoupil, MSNBC
There’s a food fight exploding in Congress.
The House of Representatives passed a hotly contested bill last week that would block states from requiring labels identifying food made with genetically modified ingredients. Now a similar bill is expected in the Senate, where North Dakota Republican Sen. John Hoeven is currently looking for a co-sponsor.
The measure would preempt a GMO labeling movement that has already helped establish laws in Maine and Connecticut. In Vermont, the first to pass such a law, the labels are scheduled to appear by next summer. And the Congressional effort to block these measures has lit a flame beneath culinary crusaders.
There is not a single fruit or vegetable on the market that has not been genetically modified at some time in its life.
This is an easy one for the market to sort out on its own, no “help” from the Feds needed.
We already see products in stores marked “non-gmo”, and people who care about such things are free to purchase them rather than products that don’t make that claim. Producers know there is an enthusiastic market for non-gmo products, and are happy to offer them and advertise that fact if they can. They make a nice profit by doing so. If a label doesn’t say “non-gmo”, you can pretty much assume that it is a gmo product.
All this will do is give attorneys more money in lawsuits about definitions and quantifiers.
People who care about whether or not a product has gmos can read labels. No Federal regulation needed.
Dogula, it should be pointed out that this bill is NOT a Federal regulation requiring labeling. It is a bill to PREVENT States from requiring labeling. So, if the citizens of any State demand GMO labeling, the Federal government won’t allow it. From your less government, less legislation stance, I would have expected you to be against additional legislation that deprives citizens to vote on what they want. Do you truly believe that Washington should be passing laws that prevent States from taking action not outlined in the Constitution?
My biggest problem with this entire discussion is WHY would any legislator want to keep citizens from knowing what is in their food? Let the markets decide how labeling will be. Incidentally, corporate lobbying efforts have increased 300% in the last 3 years to keep any GMO labeling requirements away. They have spent about $100 million for lobbying against the idea. Now, why do you think that corporations would spend that kind of money to keep you from knowing what is in your food?