March 28, 2024

Federal GMO Labeling Bill to be Introduced in Congress

Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) is planning on introducing a federal bill to mandate labeling of foods containing genetically modified ingredients. The bill sets disclosure and labeling requirements for any foods that have been genetically engineered or modified. The bill will be co-sponsored by Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), who has been active on this issue for years.

GMO FreeWhile this sounds like good news for those who support labeling of GMO, GE, and GM foods, an article on Alternet suggested that representatives of Walmart, General Mills, Cocoa-Cola, and others who opposed Proposition 37 in California last November may want this bill to become law so stricter bills cannot be passed in state legislatures. Federal laws generally pre-empt state laws.

GMO labeling laws are under consideration in several state legislatures this session, including Washington state, Maryland, New Jersey, Iowa, New Mexico, and Missouri. And there is a backlash against Cheerios and other General Mills brands since that company spent millions to defeat Prop 37.

Rep. DeFazio wrote a letter to Congress last year along with Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) asking that legislators support a petition to the FDA asking that body to begin GMO labeling requirements. They said, “we reject the false dichotomy that being for GE food labeling is being anti-GE foods. This isn’t a matter of being for or against GE foods, it’s a basic stance that consumers should be the ones to decide what they eat and feed their families. The FDA should protect consumer rights and prevent consumer deception by requiring the labeling of GE foods.”

 

Comments

  1. When is this effective? Should be asap. GMO Causes CANCER. Why is this country poisoning their own people? Please not just label the GMO, but BAN it for good. It does more harm than anything. It’s only common sense.

  2. Martha Guthrie says

    Please see that ALL altered foods are labeled. I, and many others, want to know what we are eating. It is ridiculous that in this day of information, that people have no idea what they are eating. Most of us are unable to produce our own food, and are forced to purchase from grocery stores. We WANT to know what we are putting in our bodies.

  3. Robert Wager says

    Funny the money behind this bill is the organic food lobby but there is a 39 state recall for organic spinach. there was a huge recall for organic peanut butter recently. There has never been a case of harm ever documented for consuming GM foods. Kinda backwards don’t you think?

    • Linda Larsen says

      You’re talking about two different things. Any food can be contaminated with pathogenic bacteria from the farm to the table. But people are concerned about long-term effects of GMO foods, which are unknown, that may range from cancer to infertility to accelerated aging. Those are much, much harder to tie to a cause. In any case, consumers have the right to know what they’re buying and feeding their families and the right to make that choice.

      • Seems funny to me that in a nation where, for the first time in history we have more people than ever getting no outside exercise, are overweight, consume far too many calories, take countless medications for ailments we never knew we had or were previously cured with a spanking, while we have fed billions of meals containing GMO to millions of people over a couple decades, without one incident, yet you want to blame GM for a fictional health concern?

        • Linda Larsen says

          Fictional health concern? If you can provide long term studies that show GMO foods are not a health risk, you’d have a point. But there are no long term studies that show any such thing. In fact, Monsanto’s studies ended after three months; not nearly enough to prove those foods are safe. My points are, and remain, that there need to be long term studies on these foods, and that labeling is a no-brainer, since consumers deserve to know what they’re buying.

          Your comparison is not valid, since you are trying to conflate many different subjects. Obesity, lack of exercise, and over prescribed medications are completely different from unlabeled genetically engineered foods. And read my previous reply. The problems that may be inherent in genetically modified foods, that is, cancer, reproductive problems, and immune problems, are very difficult to pinpoint to any one specific source. And there have been no long term studies on these foods. To say that GMO foods have caused “no problems” is disingenuous at best, a lie at worst.

        • Mark Dreck says

          Accodring to some experts, the GMOs are tested for 90 days only – so these are “great” long-term studies.

          There are more GMOs incidents documented actually: the French study with rats – the rats fed with GMO developed cancer in more cases. And although this study was rejected by some for low number of animals, it still brings some validity – while none of the big GMO corporation shared their studies publically. But again, the problem is not the controversy of GMOs – which are prohibited in some countries and labeling required in others – it is more about transparency and right to be informed.

    • Mark Dreck says

      GMOs don’t have any long-term studies since they were introduced only since 1996. GMOs were tested in the labs but not a scientist knows how they will behave in a natural environment since they can make the pests more persistent as well and thus require even more pesticides (which seems to be happening now). If some people want GMOs – take it. But I prefer not to eat them and have my right to know what is in my food.

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