Biotech corporations and junk food manufacturers spent over $400 million to defeat GMO labeling initiatives and proposed laws. They hired the best public relations firms money could buy, to create slick campaigns to convince consumers to vote against their own best interests.
One of the biggest but perhaps most convincing lies Monsanto and Big Food perpetuated was that mandatory labeling laws would result in higher costs for manufacturers, who would then have to pass those costs on to consumers.
It simply was not true. In anticipation of having to comply with Vermont’s law (before Congress preempted it), numerous companies, including Campbell’s, began printing the words “produced with genetic engineering” on product labels—and they did so at no extra cost to consumers.
Most of the corporations that opposed GMO labeling laws are (or were at the time) members of the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA)—Monsanto’s Evil Twin. The GMA broke campaign finance laws in order to defeat GMO labeling initiatives, sued Vermont to overturn its GMO labeling law, and wrote the bill that ultimately preempted Vermont’s law.
Want to boycott the food companies that opposed GMO labeling? There’s an App for that!
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Download the Buycott App and subscribe to our “Pro-GMO? Or Pro-Right to Know?” campaign to help you choose products that regenerate your health and the environment. Once you’ve joined the campaign, you can use this app to scan food products in order to learn who the parent company of each brand is, and where that company stands in the GMO labeling fight.
If you don’t have a smartphone, you can still join the campaign online here.
Here are the companies that funded the defeat of GMO ballot initiatives in California (2012), Washington (2013), Oregon (2014) and Colorado (2014):
| Donor | No On 37 | No on 522 | No on 92 | No on 105 | Total |
| Monsanto Co. | $8,112,867 | $5,374,411 | $5,958,750 | $4,755,878 | $24,201,906 |
| Dupont | $5,400,000 | $3,880,159 | $4,928,150 | $3,000,000 | $17,208,309 |
| Grocery Manufacturers Association | $2,002,000 | $11,000,000 | $169,190 | $106,600 | $13,277,790 |
| PepsiCo | $2,485,400 | $2,352,966 | $2,350,000 | $1,650,000 | $8,838,366 |
| Coca-Cola North America | $1,690,500 | $1,520,351 | $1,170,000 | $1,108,000 | $5,488,851 |
| DOW Agrosciences | $2,000,000 | $591,654 | $1,157,150 | $306,500 | $4,055,304 |
| Kraft Foods | $2,000,500 | $0.00 | $870,000 | $1,030,000 | $3,900,500 |
| General Mills | $1,230,300 | $869,271 | $695,000 | $820,000 | $3,614,571 |
| Nestle USA | $1,461,600 | $1,528,206 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $2,989,806 |
| ConAgra Foods | $1,176,700 | $828,251 | $350,000 | $250,000 | $2,604,951 |
| Bayer CropScience | $2,000,000 | $591,654 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $2,591,654 |
| BASF Plant Science | $2,000,000 | $500,000 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $2,500,000 |
| Syngenta Corporation | $2,000,000 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $2,000,000 |
| Land O’Lakes | $153,300 | $144,878 | $760,000 | $900,000 | $1,958,178 |
| Kellogg’s Company | $790,700 | $322,050 | $500,000 | 250,000 | $1,862,750 |
| Hershey Company | $518,900 | $360,450 | $320,000 | $380,000 | $1,579,350 |
| Smucker Company | $555,000 | $349,978 | $295,000 | $345,000 | $1,544,978 |
| Mondelez International | $181,000 | $210,336 | $720,000 | $0.00 | $1,111,336 |
| Bimbo Bakeries | $422,900 | $137,460 | $230,000 | 270,000 | $1,060,360 |
| Smithfield Foods | $683,900 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $250,000 | $933,900 |
| Abbott Nutrition | $334,500 | $185,025 | $160,000 | $190,000 | $869,525 |
| Delmonte Foods | $674,100 | $125,677 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $799,777 |
| Hormel Foods | $467,900 | $76,803 | $85,000 | 85,000 | $714,703 |
| Cargill | $250,000 | $143,133 | $111,000 | $135,000 | $639,133 |
| Flowers Foods | $182,100 | $205,099 | $0.00 | $250,000 | $637,199 |
| Biotechnology Industry Organization | $502,000 | $0.00 | 11,200 | $108,000 | $621,200 |
| Ocean Spray Cranberries | $409,100 | $80,295 | $35,000 | 80,000 | $604,395 |
| Bumble Bee Foods | $420,600 | $52,365 | $45,000 | $50,000 | $567,965 |
| McCormick & Company | $248,200 | $148,369 | $130,000 | $0.00 | $526,569 |
| Heinz Company | $500,000 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $500,000 |
| Mars Inc. | $498,350 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $498,350 |
| Unilever | $467,100 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $467,100 |
| Pinnacle Foods Group | $266,100 | $175,425 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $441,525 |
| Dean Foods | $253,950 | $174,553 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $428,503 |
| Council for Biotechnology Information | $375,000 | $0.00 | $12,827 | $0.00 | $387,827 |
| Bunge North America | $248,600 | $137,896 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $386,496 |
| Hilshire Brands Company | $85,900 | $282,775 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $368,675 |
| Sara Lee Corporation | $343,600 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $343,600 |
| Rich Products Corporation | $248,300 | $34,911 | $30,000 | $0.00 | $313,211 |
| Welch Foods | $167,000 | $41,893 | $30,000 | $35,000 | $273,893 |
| Knouse Foods | $167,600 | $20,946 | $20,000 | $25,000 | $233,546 |
| Sunny Delight Beverages | $139,700 | $30,547 | $25,000 | $25,000 | $220,247 |
| Mead Johnson Nutrition Company | $80,000 | $0.00 | $50,000 | $50,000 | $180,000 |
| Dole Packaged Foods | $175,000 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $175,000 |
| Clement Pappas & Co. | $100,000 | $30,547 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $130,547 |
| Wrigley Jr. Company | $123,350 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $123,350 |
| Tree Top Inc. | $110,600 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $110,600 |
| Shearer’s Foods | $0.00 | $36,656 | $30,000 | $35,000 | $101,656 |
| Hero North America | $80,800 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $80,800 |
| Faribault Foods | $76,000 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $76,000 |
| Solae Inc. | $62,500 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $62,500 |
| Clorox Company | $39,700 | $17,455 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $57,155 |
| Goya Foods | $56,700 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $56,700 |
| McCain Foods USA | $53,400 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $53,400 |
| Bruce Foods | $38,500 | $4,364 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $42,864 |
| Godiva Chocolatier | $42,700 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $42,700 |
| B&G Foods | $40,000 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $40,000 |
| Michael Foods | $0.00 | $0.00 | $30,000 | $0.00 | $30,000 |
| C.H. Guenther & Son | $24,700 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $24,700 |
| Morton Salt | $21,400 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $21,400 |
| Reily Foods Company | $18,400 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $18,400 |
| Inventure Foods | $15,600 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $15,600 |
| Hirzel Canning Company | $15,000 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $15,000 |
| Idahoan Foods | $10,000 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $10,000 |
| Niagara Bottling | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| Sargento Foods | $10,000 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $10,000 |
| Snack Foods Association | $10,000 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $10,000 |
Data sources:
California SOS Campaign Finance: NO ON 37