A food fight is raging in the U.S. over package labeling. In Vermont, the consumers have won an important battle.
Food companies are fighting tooth and nail to avoid noting on packages whether the food they are selling contains genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Their supposed reason: There’s no effective difference between GMO food and other food that affects human health.
But the state government in Vermont disagrees, and has approved rules for food packaging that tells consumers whether or not they are purchasing food with GMOs.
As of July 1, 2016, GMO foods in Vermont will have to labeled as containing GMOs. Raw GMO food will have to have labels that it was “produced with genetic engineering.” Packages of processed food will have to say either “produced with genetic engineering,” or “may be produced with genetic engineering.”
In one of the most important provisions, the state will not allow GMO foods to be tagged with a “natural” label.
In case you didn’t know it, right now, the food in your supermarket can contain GMO products and still be labeled as “natural.” That’s because there are no reliable standards for what can be called “natural” in the supermarket. Food manufacturers love this because “natural” tags help to increase sales but they lack stringent standards.
The forces of Big Food are not letting this go into effect without a fight. They are going to court to fight Vermont’s new rules.
Marion Nestle, a food activist who has been outspoken for the need to label GMO foods, wonders in her blog – “… why the biotechnology industry, Grocery Manufacturers Association, and so many food companies think that saying ‘may be produced with genetic engineering’ means the end of civilization as we know it, so much so that they pour millions of dollars into fighting it.”
You would think that if the industry really has nothing to hide about its GMO Frankenfoods, it would welcome labeling the food as such. In any case, we have a right to know what we’re eating.
The closest we can come right now is a website set up by the Institute for Responsible Technology’s website, the Non-GMO Shopping Guide: http://nongmoshoppingguide.com/index.html. It gives you all the products known to NOT contain genetically modified organisms, everything from drinks, desserts and packaged foods to supplements and wholesale products.
