Federal Ban On GMO Labeling?

[Neil Desmond]

You are both wrong. They are trying to outlaw non-GMO labeling. For example, Whole Foods, and some independent farmer's markets do their own investigation on the products they sell. They label their products. If the legislation that Ben Swann told us about in the OP passes, then it would be illegal to label non-GMO foods. They are trying to take away our right to know what is in the foods we eat.

That's just a lie. The legislation they are trying to pass would make it illegal for the states to demand GMO labeling. It does NOTHING to abolish voluntary labeling.

What is the actual wording in the bill?

 

[Travlyr]

That's just a lie. The legislation they are trying to pass would make it illegal for the states to demand GMO labeling. It does NOTHING to abolish voluntary labeling.

So, your claim is that Ben Swann is lying to his audience? Why would he do that?

 

[Travlyr]

What is the actual wording in the bill?

It is not yet a bill. Ben Swann said that the Grocery Manufacturers Association is lobbying Congress for a bill to ban non-GMO labeling.

 

[angelatc]

It is not yet a bill. Ben Swann said that the Grocery Manufacturers Association is lobbying Congress for a bill to ban non-GMO labeling.

Here is exactly what he said:

The GMA is pushing legislation through the federal government to outlaw GMO labeling laws enacted on the state level.

They are pushing legislation to try to keep the states from passing laws that mandate GMO labeling. They are not trying to outlaw vountary GMO labeling.

They are happily selling food that is labeled GMO free - why would they want to pass a law that would prevent them from doing that?

 

[angelatc]

So, your claim is that Ben Swann is lying to his audience? Why would he do that?

To get people to send him money so he can keep telling them the truths they want to hear, I guess.

 

[angelatc]

What is the actual wording in the bill?

I do not think it is a bill yet. But here is a list of their talking points: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_29132.cfm

VI. IS THERE A CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUE?

• Yes, under the First Amendment, commercial speech has protections which prohibit the government from compelling certain statements. See Central Hudson Gas & Elec. Corp. v. Public Serv. Comm’n of New York, 447 U.S. 557 (1986).

• State labeling statutes have been overturned for violating the First Amendment. In 1996, the Second Federal Circuit in the case of IDFA v. Amestoy, applied the test found in Central Hudson Gas and blocked a Vermont law that required dairy producers to label milk from cows treated with a growth hormone. The court explained that Vermont’s stated interests in adopting the law – strong consumer interest and the public’s right to know – were not substantial enough to justify the functional equivalent of a warning about a production method that has no discernible impact on a final product.

 

[Travlyr]

Okay, I apologize. I misunderstood it.

A national lobbying firm, the GMA, has already been fighting GMO labeling in the state of Washington but now they are pushing for a federal ban on GMO labeling across the nation.

Read more: http://benswann.com/lobbying-firm-wants-gmo-labeling-outlawed/#ixzz2s6hBOtZ5
Follow us: @BenSwann_ on Twitter

 

[angelatc]

Okay, I apologize. I misunderstood it.


Read more: http://benswann.com/lobbying-firm-wants-gmo-labeling-outlawed/#ixzz2s6hBOtZ5
Follow us: @BenSwann_ on Twitter

That's what frustrates me here. It isn't so much that you misread it as Swann misled you.

And he never mentions that there was a huge lobbying firm behind the WA initiative, too. The Big Organic industry is on record as being worried about GMO foods lowering food prices, which would be bad for them. They're no more concerned about your health or the environment than anybody else is.

Nor should they be. Their job is to sell you what you want, not what someone else thinks you need.

 

[donnay]

Big Food Wants Feds to Ban GMO Labeling!
November 18th, 2013

Beating the labeling of GMO foods in Washington and California wasn’t enough for the Grocery Manufacturers Association.

Rodale News
By Emily Main

WebOf the $33 million that was spent to defeat a law requiring labeling of genetically modified foods (GMOs) in Washington state, the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), a trade group representing large food corporations, spent $22 million, nearly all of it from an account named “Defense of Brands” funded by its corporate membership.

Trying to avoid such expensive fights, it’s come to light that the group now has plans to lobby the federal government for a ban on state-level labeling efforts. Campaign finance documents obtained by Michele Simon, JD, MPH, a food policy consultant at the nonprofit Center for Food Safety, reveal that the GMA’s ultimate goal is “federal preemption with no mandatory label,” in other words, a federal law that would prevent states from setting their own GMO-labeling laws requiring food manufacturers to label their products.

Continued...

 

[donnay]

Big Food Drafts GMO Labeling Law for Congress—How Helpful!
http://www.rodalenews.com/labeling-...tter-_-Rodale-_-Content-Food-_-BigFoodsNewLow

 

[Travlyr]

My misunderstanding of what Ben Swann said is not Ben Swann's fault. I simply misunderstood it because I am a Whole Foods shopper and skimmed his report instead of reading it accurately. I don't see the issue the way you see it. I see Big Business lobbying for anti-labeling. Why would they want that? I would like to know what I am eating.

Grocery manufacturers disclose big donors to anti-GMO labeling campaign in Washington

The Grocery Manufacturers Association on Friday revealed that PepsiCo, Nestle USA and Coca-Cola each gave hidden donations of more than $1 million to the campaign against a Washington initiative that would require the labeling of genetically engineered food.

Here is the list of donors released Friday by the Grocery Manufacturers Association.
Washington State Public Disclosure Commission

The association agreed to make public a long list of donors to its anti-labeling campaign after being sued this week by Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson. He charged that the association violated the state's disclosure laws by setting up an internal fund that solicited money from its members to fight the initiative.

 

[angelatc]

My misunderstanding of what Ben Swann said is not Ben Swann's fault. I simply misunderstood it because I am a Whole Foods shopper and skimmed his report instead of reading it accurately. I don't see the issue the way you see it. I see Big Business lobbying for anti-labeling. Why would they want that? I would like to know what I am eating.

Grocery manufacturers disclose big donors to anti-GMO labeling campaign in Washington

I do not deny that big business is lobbying against the mandatory labeling. What I am saying is that organic farming is also Big Business, and they are lobbying for it just as hard.

If you do not want to eat GMO, then eat organic. Why should the whole world be labeled just to suit you?

 

[Travlyr]

I do not deny that big business is lobbying against the mandatory labeling. What I am saying is that organic farming is also Big Business, and they are lobbying for it just as hard.

If you do not want to eat GMO, then eat organic. Why should the whole world be labeled just to suit you?

I do eat organic now. I like to know if I am eating GMO because they are unnatural. I don't advocate for mandatory GMO labeling as long as they don't ban non-GMO labeling.

 

[angelatc]

I do eat organic now. I like to know if I am eating GMO because they are unnatural. I don't advocate for mandatory GMO labeling as long as they don't ban non-GMO labeling.

Organic food is already GMO free by regulation.

 

[Travlyr]

Organic food is already GMO free by regulation.

That may be true. However, I learned yesterday that ALL sugar beet production in America is GMO. How do I know if the product I buy, if it contains sugar, is not GMO sugar? Can I really opt out of GMO in our world today?

 

[donnay]

Organic food is already GMO free by regulation.

By a government who is in bed with the Biotechs. If they have nothing to hide, why all the fuss--the labels for nutrition are already on foods. They too can just volunteer and say: "made with GMO's."

 

[angelatc]

That may be true. However, I learned yesterday that ALL sugar beet production in America is GMO. How do I know if the product I buy, if it contains sugar, is not GMO sugar? Can I really opt out of GMO in our world today?

I do not know. But I do know that organic food can't contain GMOs by definition.

Of course you can opt out of GMO food. Whole Foods has announced that they are going GMO free IIRC, and if that fails, you may have to grow your own, but the option is there.

 

[angelatc]

By a government who is in bed with the Biotechs. If they have nothing to hide, why all the fuss--the labels for nutrition are already on foods. They too can just volunteer and said made with GMO's.

Yes they could volunteer. That is true. Or you could volunteer to stop demanding the federal government label food to suit scientifically challenged Luddites.

 

[Travlyr]

Whole Foods Market

FAQ on GMO

What's the issue?
Our customers are becoming increasingly hungry for information about GMOs and what Whole Foods Market’s stance is toward foods that contain them.

What are GMOs?
Genetic Modification is a technique that changes the genetic makeup of cells, including alteration of genetic materials and other biologically important chemicals, and allows genes to move across species. It produces new combinations of genes and traits that do not occur in nature. Plants that have been altered in this way are called GMOs, or genetically modified organisms, or GE, genetically engineered. GMO plants are modified to include genes allowing them to survive the application of chemical herbicides, or cause the plants to produce pesticides.

What foods are most likely to contain GMOs?
With regard to our North American food supply, approximately 93% of soy, 88% of field corn, 94% cotton, and over 90% of canola seed and sugar beets planted in the U.S. (2012 data) are genetically engineered.According to the Non-GMO Project, the following are considered High-Risk Crops (in commercial production; ingredients derived from these must be tested every time prior to use in Non-GMO Project Verified products (as of December 2011):

Alfalfa (first planting 2011)
Canola (approx. 90% of U.S. crop)
Corn (approx. 88% of U.S. crop in 2011)
Cotton (approx. 90% of U.S. crop in 2011)
Papaya (most of Hawaiian crop; approximately 988 acres)
Soy (approx. 94% of U.S. crop in 2011)
Sugar Beets (approx. 95% of U.S. crop in 2010)
Zucchini and Yellow Summer Squash (approx. 25,000 acres)

More information on other high-risk foods, monitored crops and common ingredients derived from GMO risk crops can be found on their website, nongmoproject.org.

Does Whole Foods Market’s quality standards prohibit GMOs?
No. It’s impossible for us to include GMOs as a catch-all standard at this time due to the lack of regulation or requirement to disclose their presence in foods. Our quality standards for food prohibit the use of artificial colorings, flavorings, preservatives, hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup and other specific ingredients.

...

What is Whole Foods Market’s position on GMOs and labeling?
Whole Foods Market has long believed that consumers have a right to know how their food was produced. We strongly support mandatory labeling of GMO-derived food. We believe that government-mandated labeling of GMO ingredients would enable shoppers, retailers and manufacturers to make purchasing decisions that reflect their beliefs. That’s why we’ve set a deadline that, by 2018, all products in our U.S. and Canadian stores must be labeled to indicate whether they contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs). We are the first national grocery chain to set a deadline for full GMO transparency. We want to offer true freedom of choice when it comes to farming and purchasing non-GMO foods.

 

[donnay]

Yes they could volunteer. That is true. Or you could volunteer to stop demanding the federal government label food to suit scientifically challenged Luddites.

How would people be able to become informed and educate themselves without a label and list of ingredients?