GMO labeling: What next?
Voters in Washington State rejected GMO labeling initiative 522 last month. But the vote was incredibly close (51.09%: NO; 48.91: YES), and pro-labeling supporters say the defeat has only strengthened their resolve, and vowed to renew efforts in 2014 (click here).
While a federal GMO labeling bill introduced earlier this year does not appear to be gaining much traction, there are scores of GMO labeling initiatives at state level at various stages (click here for a comprehensive list from the Center for Food Safety) and you can guarantee that this issue will not go away in 2014.
Mark Lynas: Label GMOs and move on...
Indeed, even some supporters of GM crops believe labeling is the way forward, notably Mark Lynas, a vocal critic-turned advocate of GM foods, who says the PR strategy of fighting labeling (which he summarizes as ‘experts’ have decided you don’t need to know) has spectacularly backfired as it just plays into the hands of those arguing the industry has something to hide.
Indeed, the pro-labeling lobby may be peddling “bad science”, claimed Lynas in a recent speech (click here). “But it is good politics. Who can disagree with the right to know what is in your food?”
Bad science, good politics? Why the GMO labeling lobby is winning the PR war...
GMA: A federal solution
At the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), meanwhile, president and CEO Pam Bailey said last month that the GMA will “advocate for a federal solution that will protect consumers by ensuring that the FDA, America's leading food safety authority, sets national standards for the safety and labeling of products made with GMO ingredients”.
She added: “Our country’s labeling laws have been and should continue to be based on health, safety and nutritional content.”
While this might sound like the GMA has come around to the idea of mandatory GMO labeling, it may well mean the opposite - that the GMA is urging the agency to finalize and formalize its historic position that foods from GM crops should not be labeled if they are not materially different from their conventional counterparts.
(The GMA has not responded to our requests for a clarification on this point.)
Click here to see what the American Herbal Products Association thinks should happen next.
Click here to see what the lawyers say.