$27 million on lobbying | Several American food and biotech firms are pushing to defeat mandatory GMO labelling laws
(Reuters) — Opponents of mandatory labelling for foods made with genetically modified organisms spent more than $27 million US in the first six months of this year on GMO-related lobbying in the United States, roughly three times their spending in all of 2013, according to an analysis released last week.
The U.S. Grocery Manufacturers Association and major food makers such as Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo Inc. and top biotech seed makers Monsanto Co. and DuPont were among heavy spenders on GMO labelling-related lobbying, according to a report issued by the Environmental Working Group.
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The group analyzed lobbying disclosure forms that cited labelling of foods containing genetically modified organisms along with other policy issues.
Coca-Cola spent $4.8 million through the second quarter of this year; PepsiCo spent $2.34 million; DuPont spent $2.4 million, while Monsanto spent $1.08 million, according to the report.
All told, the opponents of GMO labelling disclosed $15.2 million in lobbying expenditures for the second quarter of 2014, bringing the six-month total for 2014 to $27.5 million. That compared with $9.3 million disclosed on lobbying the issue by food and biotechnology companies in 2013, according to EWG, a Washington-based nonprofit that supports GMO labelling.
In contrast, supporters of GMO labelling disclosed $1.9 million in lobbying expenditures for the first half of 2014, up slightly from $1.6 million spent in 2013.
The expenditures by food and biotechnology companies come as the group pushes for passage of a bill introduced in April by U.S. Representative Mike Pompeo that would block state laws that require GMO labelling on food packages.
Vermont in May became the first U.S. state to pass a mandatory GMO labelling law that requires no other trigger to become effective.
More than 20 other U.S. states are considering mandatory labelling of GMO foods, including Colorado and Oregon, which have the issue on the ballot for the November election.
Ballot measures in California and Washington state failed after GMO labelling opponents additionally spent $67.9 million in those states, the EWG report said. Spending to defeat the ballot initiatives in Oregon and Colorado so far is reported at just over $548,000, the group said.
Consumer groups and lawmakers pushing for mandatory labelling of GMOs say there is no scientific consensus on their safety, and consumers have the right to know if GMOs are in the food they eat. They say high pesticide use associated with GMOs and pesticide residues on food containing GMOs is a health concern.
But the food and agriculture industries, including the makers of genetically modified corn, soybeans, canola and other crops widely used in packaged foods, say their products are proven safe. They have sued to block the Vermont law and say that labelling will imply GMO products are unsafe, confuse consumers and increase costs for consumers as well as farmers and food companies.
