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Food industry giants hope Congress will make GMO labeling optional, come January. Setting the stage for a civil argument after Republicans take control, a House subcommittee on Wednesday was to reexamine the enactment that would make food labeling optional, prevailing over any state laws that might make them ‘a must’.
Among the states that already passed compulsory labeling regulations are Vermont, Maine and Connecticut while Oregon is still counting votes on the issue. California and Washington opted out of compulsory marking GMOs.
The bill, presented by Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kan., is backed by the big names in the food business which have said tags would delude buyers into feeling that GMOs are risky.
As usual, the FDA has taken itself out of the matter, leaving the issue of marking GMOs to the states. It seems now that the Congress decided to intervene in face of the food industry being confronted with a potential bundle of state laws asking for GMO tagging.
As of now, the FDA says tagging GMOs isn’t required on the grounds that the nutritional substances are the same as in non-GMO mixed goods.
Genetically modified organisms are built to have specific qualities such as imperviousness to herbicides or certain plant ailments.
While there is minimal investigative confirmation indicating they are perilous, some activists pushed to mark them, saying there is a lot of obscurity about the impact GMOs have.
Most of the nation’s corn and soybean production is currently genetically altered and is used as animal feed. Some of this production is also used to produce oils or syrups.
A statement made by Scott Faber, leader of the national Just Label It campaign emphasized that buyers need to recognize what they are purchasing and how the food was made.
As retailers and consumers became more aware about GMOs the food industry felt a growing pressure. For instance, Whole Foods declared a year ago that it wanted to name GMO items in all its U.S. and Canadian stores in five years’ time. Also a few organizations have chosen to take out all the GMO ingredients, so no marks will be necessary.
However, compulsory GMO tags will affect the distribution chain according to Thomas W. Dempsey Jr., president and CEO of the Snack Food Association because the separation of products will mean extra work for manufacturers.
