The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ruled against requiring labels for GE foods in 1992. Since then, other countries have taken the issue more seriously and have begun to require labeling. The European Union began requiring labeling for GE foods in 1997, and other countries around the world have followed their lead in mandating labeling, including Russia, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and China. The U.S. is one of the only developed countries that does not require GE foods to be labeled.
Public opinion polls consistently find that Americans want to know what is in their food and heavily favor the labeling of food products that contain genetically modified ingredients. In 2003, an ABC News poll found that 93 percent of respondents supported mandatory GE food labeling: more than half said they believe GE foods are unsafe. This is, of course, why businesses resist labeling so strongly – it would hurt their sales or force them to modify their production practices. In March 2011, an MSNBC Health poll revealed that support for GE labeling stood at nearly 90 percent. According to one pollster, “A free market depends on open information from which to base decisions.”
In the absence of federal requirements to label GE food, citizens’ initiatives on GE labeling are gaining support. The Committee for the Right to Know is aiming to get an initiative on the California ballot for the November elections. The committee, a grassroots coalition of consumer, public health, and environmental organizations, as well as some food companies, submitted the California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act of 2012 to the state attorney general’s office in November 2011. For the initiative to get on the ballot, the coalition must gather 560,000 qualifying signatures in the next three months. Advocates hope a win in the nation’s largest state economy will change industry practice and encourage other states to mandate labels.
Efforts to pass federal food labeling laws and standards have not been abandoned, despite resistance from the powerful agricultural and food industries. In October 2011, the Center for Food Safety filed a legal petition with the FDA seeking mandatory labeling of foods made from GE crops. The petition requires a formal response from the FDA and is the first step toward filing a lawsuit against the agency. It is supported by a coalition of approximately 350 organizations, representing public interest and consumer organizations, the health care industry, food and farming organizations, and businesses. The coalition has also launched a website petition campaign and is encouraging consumers to pressure the FDA to require labeling on GE products.
Legislation was also introduced by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) in December 2011 (for the sixth time since 1999). The Genetically Engineered Food Right to Know Act of 2011 (H.R. 3553) would:
amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the Federal Meat Inspection Act, and the Poultry Products Inspection Act to require that food that contains a genetically engineered material, or that is produced with a genetically engineered material, be labeled accordingly.
The bill, which has 12 co-sponsors, has been referred to the House Agriculture Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
“Genetic engineers have dramatically altered the food we consume, disrupting entire ecosystems and contaminating crops with potentially devastating effects on our long-term health,” Kucinich said in a press release. “My common sense legislation will finally allow informed consumers to make their own decisions and to vote with their wallets. People have a right to know how their food is made and whether or not it has been genetically modified,” stated Kucinich.
Source: OMB Watch
