Editorial

State should mandate GMO labeling

Posted

Many American food corporations –– particularly the processed food corporations –– want the federal government to usurp states’ rights. In particular, they want Congress to pass legislation that would prohibit states from requiring food producers to label products that have been genetically modified.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed such a bill last year. The Senate is considering one this year. Either would create a national voluntary labeling program –– key word, voluntary, meaning companies wouldn’t have do a thing if they didn’t want.

Genetically modified organisms are causing quite the fuss these days. Health and environmental advocates are waging an aggressive nationwide campaign, calling on states to require GMO labeling. People have a right to know what’s in their food, they say.

Meanwhile, the producers are pushing back, saying that GMO labeling would cast undue suspicion on genetically engineered products, which now account for the overwhelming majority of the food sold in U.S. supermarkets.

More than 70 bills that would mandate labeling or prohibit GMO farming have been proposed in 30 states, according to the Center for Food Safety. Vermont recently became the first state to require labeling, and its new law will take effect July 1.We believe states should exercise their right to self-determination –– and require labeling of foods containing GMOs. People should understand what they’re eating. We believe in transparency in all its forms, including product labeling.

In New York, Senate Bill 485, which would require GMO labeling, is now in the works. It sits in the Consumer Protection Committee, headed by Chairman Michael Venditto, a first-term Republican from Massapequa. A companion bill is under consideration in the Assembly Codes Committee. We urge our readers to write to Venditto in support of GMO labeling.

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