GMO labeling has been a hot debate in America ever since Proposition 37 was narrowly defeated in California last year.
From there, the GMO labeling issue moved to the great Northwest, and was again crushed in Washington State.
It’s been a busy few months for GMO labeling advocates. Following the narrow loss in Washington, two Hawaiian Islands have passed GMO labeling bills this last week restricting and outright banning GMO farming.
Florida has also introduced a bill calling for GMO labeling, and will be on the ballot for the 2014 Florida legislature. Connecticut and Maine have already passed GMO labeling laws, however, they’re contingent upon neighboring states passing similar legislation.
New York and New Hampshire have joined in. There are two bills to label genetically modified foods in the New York State assembly. Another bill to label GMOs in New Hampshire will be voted in January 2014.
It seem quite obvious that people want GMO labeling on the food the eat. Yet food manufacturers continue to fund campaigns to defeat this bills.
The Grocery Manufacturers Association(GMA), which represents more than 300 food companies, is funding efforts to defeat labeling measures in 25 states. The GMA is pushing for a “federal solution that will protect consumers by ensuring that the FDA, America’s leading food safety authority, sets national standards for the safety and labeling of products made with GMO ingredients,” said GMA CEO Pamela Bailey.
“Protect consumers?”
As reported earlier in Natural News Blogs, the GMA is fighting tooth and nail to rub out GMO labeling.
Michele R. Simon, a public health lawyer and food writer, obtained 37 pages (through public records requests) of confidential documents. The sensitive documents recommend how the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) should pursue federal legislation in Washington D.C. to prevent individual states from putting the GMO labeling issue up for vote.
How is this “protecting consumers?’
Ruth S. MacDonald, a professor at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State University said she opposes mandatory labels because she can’t justify the increase in cost to put non-GMO on the label.
Really?
Food companies change the packaging of their foods all the time for marketing purposes without raising the cost. The truth is, labeling GMOs is scary to food companies because they believe consumers will shy away from GMOs.
Well duh!
SunOpta Inc. is a global company focused on natural, organic and specialty foods products. Despite a small hiccup 2 weeks ago when their stock price dipped after Q3 earnings were less than expected, the company has seen it’s stock price double in the last 9 months.
There’s growing trend in NON-GMO products, and it happening at the same time that 13 more GMO foods are awaiting approval from the FDA.
If companies like SunOpta can bear the expense of growing and labeling NON-GMO food products, why can’t companies who genetically alter food label GMOs?
As admitted by opponents of GMO labeling, their profits will likely decrease dramatically if they did.
Brett Allen
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Brett Allen is the author of the NO GMO Diet. In this tell-all book, he records his 21 day journey to lowering his blood pressure by nearly 40 points, and losing 19 pounds by simply eliminating GMOs from his diet.
Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/noGMOdiet
sources:
http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/sign/support_gmo_labeling_in_newyork/
http://www.righttoknow-gmo.org/states/new_hampshire
http://www.agrinews.com/gmo/label/or/no/story-5757.html
