‘The issue is disclosure of a technology that people have real concerns about,’ says a health official
(Reuters) — The Vermont Senate has passed a bill that would make it the first U.S. state to enact mandatory labelling of foods made with genetically modified organisms.
Unlike bills passed last year in Maine and Connecticut, which re-quire other states to pass GMO labelling laws before they can be enacted, Vermont’s contains no such trigger clause.
Vermont’s effort comes as the developers of GM crops and the packaged food industry push for passage of an opposing bill introduced in Congress that would nullify any law that would require labelling of foods made with genetically modified crops.
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GMO labelling is just one front raging in the United States, where consumers increasingly are demanding to know where their food comes from and how it was produced.
“We have a growing food movement in which people are demanding more transparency,” said Michele Simon, a public health attorney and president of Eat Drink Politics.
When it comes to GMO labelling, “the issue is disclosure of a technology that people have real concerns about,” Simon said.
But GM crop developers and their backers say the products have been proven safe.
“This debate isn’t about food safety,” said Karen Batra, spokesperson for the Biotechnoloy Industry Organization. “Our science experts … point to more than 1,700 credible peer-reviewed studies that find no legitimate concern.”
Batra said mandatory labelling creates needless extra costs and complications for farmers and the food industry.
Vermont’s bill, approved 28-2 by the senate, has already passed the state house of representatives. It now goes back to the house to see whether members will approve changes made by the senate. If passed, the law would take effect July 1, 2016.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, there are GMO labelling bills under consideration in 29 states.
The Vermont bill passed by the senate would require GMO-containing foods sold at retail outlets to be labelled as having been produced or partially produced with “genetic engineering.”
Last October, a group of 93 international scientists issued a statement saying there was a lack of empirical and scientific evidence to support what they said were false claims the biotech industry was making about a “consensus” on safety.
The group said there needed to be more independent research as studies showing safety tend to be funded and backed by the biotech industry.
