GM Food Labeling Advocates Attacking Issue from All Sides

Initiatives include CA ballot measure, FDA petition, federal and state bills, congressional lobbying

March 1, 2012 | Source: The Organic & Non-GMO Report | by Ken Roseboro

For related articles and more information, please visit OCA’s Genetic Engineering page and our Millions Against Monsanto page.
Initiatives include CA ballot measure, FDA petition, federal and state bills, congressional lobbying

Since the introduction of genetically modified foods in the United States in the mid-1990s, there have been many initiatives to label GM foods at both the federal and state levels, but there have never been as many initiatives going on at once as there are now. Since last fall there has been a Right2Know March from New York City to Washington, DC, an online petition to the Food and Drug Administration calling for GM food labeling that has generated more than 600,000 comments and counting, a ballot initiative in California to put a labeling law on the ballot for this year’s election, federal labeling legislation introduced by Congressman Dennis Kucinich, and most recently a “Dear Colleague” letter circulating in Congress to encourage representatives to support labeling.

Bills introduced in 20 states

Meanwhile, lawmakers in 20 states have introduced bills to label GM foods in the past year, an unprecedented level of legislative activity on labeling. According to the Truth in Labeling Coalition, bills have been introduced in 20 states, including Illinois, Alaska, California, North Carolina, Iowa, Maryland, New York, Oregon, Washington, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Vermont, Tennessee, Hawaii, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, Michigan, and New Hampshire.

To date, none of the bills have passed, due to lobbying from agribusiness interests with their moneyed influence on state and federal lawmakers.

Alaska has been the only state to pass a GM food labeling law and this applies to GM fish only.