Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Don’t ask, don’t tell?
Don’t ask, don’t tell?
by Sam Ross-Brown
Utne Reader
May 08, 2012
Just over half of Americans say they wouldn’t buy a food they knew was genetically modified. Another 87 percent say they want to see GM labels at the grocery store. That’s one reason why Connecticut’s recent failure to require labeling is so surprising, says Treehugger. Now, genetically-modified food is controversial among consumers, farmers, and scientists, and it’s difficult to find a consensus on GM benefits and risks. The World Health Organization, for instance, while noting some potential human health hazards like gene transfer, maintains GM safety is a case-by-case issue.
But the biggest opposition in Connecticut didn’t come from scientists. The reason the bill failed appears to be pressure from Monsanto, which reportedly threatened state legislators with legal action. This was the same tactic that got a GM labeling provision thrown out in Vermont last month, as the one thing cash-strapped states don’t need is a big lawsuit.
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Lawmakers urge labels
Lawmakers urge labels for genetically modified food
By Ken Dixon
Greenwich Time
May 05, 2012
HARTFORD — A bill linking Connecticut to a pending referendum in California that would require the labeling of genetically engineered foods is in a race with the legislative adjournment date later this week.
Lawmakers pushing for the so-called genetically modified organisms (GMO) legislation say it’s important to allow people to decide for themselves whether they want to purchase the controversial products.
But House leaders are concerned over the possible lengthy debate on the constitutionality of requiring the labeling, and making a Connecticut law dependent on action in another state.
“We’re trying to get it on the `go’ list,” said Rep. Richard Roy, D-Milford, co-chairman of the legislative Environment Committee, who this year has made the labeling issue one of the major goals of his final year in the General Assembly.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
California initiative
California groups push for vote on GMO food labels
By Carey Gillam
Reuters
May 02, 2012
A California initiative to require labeling of foods containing genetically modified ingredients appeared headed for the ballot in November after organizers said on Wed nesday they had gathered nearly 1 million signatures in favor of the measure.
The hotly contested proposal is similar to measures being pushed in other U.S. states and at the federal level as GMO opponents demand more transparency in food products.
The California measure would require labeling of foods made with biotech corn, soybeans, canola, or other biotech crops to specify that they were “produced with genetic engineering.”
Friday, April 20, 2012
GMO labeling bill OKd
House Panel OKs GMO labeling bill, but with a caveat
Terri Hallenbeck
Burlington Free Press
April 20, 2012
MONTPELIER — By a 9-1 vote Friday afternoon, the House Agriculture Committee approved a bill that would require genetically engineered foods to be labeled.
Legislators said the move comes in response to an increasing call for information about the contents of food and wariness about the science of genetic engineering.
For several reasons, however, the controversial labels are far from a reality in Vermont.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Push to label
Push to label genetically modified food gains traction
By Georgina Gustin
stltoday.com
March 03, 2012
Thousands of products in the typical American grocery store, from cereals to corn chips, contain genetically modified ingredients. But the average shopper wouldn’t know it from their labels.
Many companies in the food and biotechnology industry, including Creve Coeur-based Monsanto Co., want to keep it that way. But they’ll have to fend off a growing push for labels on genetically modified products that’s gaining traction in Washington and state capitals.
At least 18 states are now considering laws that would make the labels mandatory, including Illinois and California, the country’s biggest market. Earlier this year, pro-labeling advocates marched from New York to Washington. Late last fall, about 500 groups, including some of the country’s biggest consumer organizations, banded together as the Just Label It campaign. Also last fall, the Washington-based Center for Food Safety filed a petition with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, calling for the agency to require labels. As of this week, the petition had 850,000 signatures of support, the most ever for a federal food petition.
“Fifty countries have mandatory labeling. We’re one of the only developed countries that doesn’t. GMOs are labeled in China, Russia. Why would consumers in those countries have this information and we not have it here?” said Megan Westgate, executive director of the the Non-GMO Project, a group that verifies and labels products as free of genetically altered ingredients. “It feels like we’re at this tipping point where a lot more Americans are concerned about this.”