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Bill To Halt Patchwork Of State GMO Labeling Laws

Growing Produce Staff By Growing Produce Staff|March 31, 2015

Reps. Mike Pompeo, (R-K), and G. K. Butterfield, (D-NC), reintroduced a bill last week that is designed to offer reforms to the U.S. food supply. According to a recent news release, nine Republicans and eight Democrats are in support of the bill, with the majority of these 17 original co-sponsors sitting on either the Agriculture or Energy & Commerce Committee.

Called the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015, the legislation is designed to help ensure farmers will continue to be able to improve crop quality and quantity and offer nutritious, affordable food in the U.S. and around the world.

Without the reforms in this legislation, a patchwork of state GMO labeling laws could mislead consumers and increase food prices for families, according to the news release. The bill preserves and affirms FDA’s role in food safety, while respecting Americans’ interest in knowing what is in their food.

As a result, this legislation includes a new provision to allow those who wish to label their products as GMO-free to do so by through a USDA-accredited certification process.

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“We took the positive feedback we received after our hearing in December and have been meeting with key stakeholders to ensure this is the right policy for both producers and consumers,” Pompeo  said. “Our goal for this legislation remains to provide clarity and transparency in food labeling, support innovation, and keep food affordable.”

“The potential for a 50 state patchwork of varying labeling standards would increase costs for producers and translate into higher prices for consumers to the tune of more than $500 per year for the average family,” Butterfield said. “This bill will provide clear rules for producers and certainty for consumers at the grocery store checkout lane.”

“When it comes to food labeling, state by state standards do not work. This bill seeks to end the guessing game and provide folks the peace of mind that labels are accurate,” said Chairman Fred Upton, of the Energy and Commerce Committee. “Safe and accurate labeling is something that we should all be able to rally around with broad bipartisan support.”

Source: news release from U.S. Congressman Mike Pompeo

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Avatar for Mischa Popoff Mischa Popoff says:
March 31, 2015 at 2:49 pm

It’s one thing to cave in to organic activists and wrote a federal law to try to stop all the state-level GMO labelling laws. But Rep. Mike Pompeo left out mention of the single most-important part of his bill in his press release.

His bill will institute an allowable threshold level for GMOs. And this will make it possible for organic farmers to sue their neighbors when their organic crops become “contaminated” above that level by GMO pollen or other plant residue.

This will serve to discourage American farmers from growing GMO crops anywhere near organic crops, which is precisely what organic activists have been aiming for right from the start.

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Avatar for crush davis crush davis says:
April 1, 2015 at 6:19 am

His goal isn’t what’s sensible. It’s whatever will curry favor with his voting base so he can keep his job ripping us off. And, it gives him something else to put on his resume so he get promored when one of his made men gets into the White House. I shouldn’t insult the mob by comparing these crooks to them.

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Avatar for crush davis crush davis says:
April 1, 2015 at 6:15 am

In other words, another example of the centralized nanny state’s total disregard for the 10th Amendment. Way to go. Here’s a novel idea: why don’t you worthless bums make some legislation requiring the USDA to overhaul the outdated NOP standards? You know, maybe make something a little less of an imposition? Nah…that would be real work on an issue that won’t matter ahead of an election year. You went for the headline & got it. Enjoy those fat paychecks you criminals. You should all be in prison.

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Avatar for Joseph Heckman Joseph Heckman says:
April 1, 2015 at 9:05 am

Read to become informed:
Altered Genes, Twisted Truth: How the Venture to Genetically Engineer Our Food Has Subverted Science, Corrupted Government, and Systematically Deceived the Public Paperback – March 20, 2015 by Steven M. Druker

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Avatar for Jerry Mills Jerry Mills says:
April 1, 2015 at 9:22 am

I guess Mr. Davis would rather live in a country where the people have no representatives in government to look out for their welfare, where there is no system to throw out the bums. He should get to know his representatives and visit their offices to see them crowded with folks looking for help. He would find that 95% of them are decent caring people who are there to represent their people. It’s called Democracy and we pay them well enough that they do not have to resort to taking bribes to do their jobs. I assume that he votes in every election to help weed out the bad ones…Sadly, the more people there are, the more regulations are needed to keep the country on even keel..In the old,old days when it was every man for himself the stronger ones still beat up the weaker and it still exists in many parts of the world. Human nature does not change but Democracy smooths it out..

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Avatar for crush davis crush davis says:
April 1, 2015 at 6:50 pm

Nice try Jerry. It’s not a “democracy”–it’s a republic, with so-called federal government. And there are no politicians who support my desires for the American of yesterday, with limited government and more powers left to state discretion. There is no difference between the parties; they are both populated by whores who sell themselves so they can garner huge checks from the taxpayers. And, in the process, they pass legislation like this, which is a refutation of federalism. Spare me the sob-stories and melodramatic imagery of people crowding the halls of the Rayburn Office Building, “looking for help” Pollyanna. Try calling or emailing one of these crooks–you’ll get form email replies, or whatever lackey has the onerous task of taking constituent calls that day. And as for bribes…would you make that comment in one of your anti-transgenic threads, where every tinfoil-hat wearing AcresUSA devotee is claiming that anyone who’s not on board with misguided laws like this one is on the Monsanto payroll? Of course you wouldn’t. So you’re a socialist, and a redistributionist, perfectly happy to see someone who’s earned what he has be forced by idiotic laws and an increasingly bloated, irresponsible government to give to those who haven’t earned it. You want to tell me what I “should” do, like a good progressive. So let me reciprocate–you “should” be glad you’re getting your way, thanks to corrupt, ignorant politicians like these. States’ rights are being eroded by legislation like this, which I’m sure warms the cockles of your statist, autocratic heart. Oh, and I’ll man up and tell you I don’t vote. And don’t give me that crap that b/c I don’t vote I can’t complain. My votes don’t count anyway and haven’t for years. Yet I still have to live under the oppressive mailed fist of the U.S. Government. So yes, I can complain. And I couldn’t care less what you, or anybody else thinks about my doing so.

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Avatar for Chuck Niwrad Chuck Niwrad says:
April 1, 2015 at 12:07 pm

Mr. Heckman: I see that Steven Druker is still telling lies about L-tryptophan. Why is it that anti-GMO activists like Mr. Druker have to rely on FUD and misinformation to make their case? Could it be that the facts aren’t on their side? (If one was serious about protecting consumers, the supplement industry would be a much more productive target.)

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Avatar for crush davis crush davis says:
April 1, 2015 at 6:59 pm

Good call. The fact that the fraudulent supplement and so-called “alternative medicine” industries are booming is proof that these sanctimonious activists don’t give a pinch of owl dung about protecting consumers. Jerry’s indignant reply reeks of advocacy for redistribution and the decline of any free market enterprises of which the multibillion-dollar organic ag industry doesn’t approve. Their current target is transgenic crops. They should be thankful for Monsanto, or they’d be relegated to doing something mundane and unsexy, like farming.

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Avatar for fairfarm fairfarm says:
April 2, 2015 at 7:41 pm

USDA recommended vitamin D levels too low by a factor of ten.

“In a letter published last week in the journal Nutrients the scientists confirmed a calculation error noted by other investigators, by using a data set from a different population. Dr. Cedric F. Garland, Dr.P.H., adjunct professor at UC San Diego’s Department of Family Medicine and Public Health said his group was able to confirm findings published by Dr. Paul Veugelers from the University of Alberta School of Public Health that were reported last October in the same journal.
“Both these studies suggest that the IOM underestimated the requirement substantially,” said Garland. “The error has broad implications for public health regarding disease prevention and achieving the stated goal of ensuring that the whole population has enough vitamin D to maintain bone health.”
The recommended intake of vitamin D specified by the IOM is 600 IU/day through age 70 years, and 800 IU/day for older ages. “Calculations by us and other researchers have shown that these doses are only about one-tenth those needed to cut incidence of diseases related to vitamin D deficiency,” Garland explained.”

Errors of fact and judgment by “the proper medical authorities” are one of several reasons why supplements can be a good idea. You, Mr. Crush, seem to be rather fond of blindly following the authorities as long as they are imposing your agenda.

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Avatar for Mischa Popoff Mischa Popoff says:
April 1, 2015 at 1:39 pm

Huge Split In The Pro-GMO Community: Is Dr. Patrick Moore Out?
http://dailycaller.com/2015/03/31/huge-split-in-the-pro-gmo-community-is-dr-patrick-moore-out/

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Avatar for Theresa Lam Theresa Lam says:
April 1, 2015 at 6:39 pm

Why not label all GMO foods so the people can find out for themselves that GMO’s do not cause problems, if that is the case. If biotech companies are so confident in the safety of their safety of the products, nobody should become ill. Once the public recognized this, the GMO companies are in the clear and the market will balance out. Once foods are labeled, they will stop spending millions on fighting labeling bills, referendums, etc. In the end, there will be a market for GMO’s and there will be a market for Organics. Just get this done and over with already.

” Even if consumers are aware of the presence of GMOs, relatively few will reject their GMO food in favor of organic or non-GMO options. Disclosure is not the same as disparagement. Consumers in Brazil have had GMO labels since 2001, but less than one percent of Brazilian food sales are organic.” http://www.ewg.org/agmag/2015/03/gmo-labeling-will-not-increase-food-prices

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Avatar for crush davis crush davis says:
April 2, 2015 at 12:38 pm

This goes beyond peoples’ “right to know” (see Mischa Popoff’s first comment here). Personally, I don’t care if there are labels or not. I buy what I want, when I want. If it has transgenic crops or products in it, so what. I avoid organic food, though, because I think the multi-billion dollar organic industry is full of hypocrites. They love to bray about how they’re growing better food, but yet price it out of a lot of peoples’ budgets. They just can’t go without those margins I guess. They remind me of the people in DC…it’s never “about the money” but yet for some strange reason they aren’t willing to take a pay cut.

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Avatar for charlene slezak charlene slezak says:
April 1, 2015 at 11:01 pm

We never should have not a a vote on this subject it is our right to know

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Avatar for Vincent P. Colandrea Sr, Vincent P. Colandrea Sr, says:
April 2, 2015 at 8:13 am

This is the crazy. As an Organic Grower I have to list in my bookkeeping my labeling everything except what color socks I’m wearing. These Chemical Companies are making Billions, & they can’t put what garbage they are killing us with on the label. Give me a break. China won’t import any GMO, GM or GE Products unless it’s labeled, Germany told it’s poultry Industry to STOP feeding poultry GMO FEED. There’s hundreds of countries that are like China, ONLY THE GOOD OLE USA, & IT’S PEOPLE’S REPRESENTATIVES THAT CARE MORE FOR BIG BUSINESS THAN FORE THE PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTRY. I call them “The 6 Devils From Hell”, they are; SYNGENTA, BAYER, BASE, DOW, MONSANTO & DuPont. They control 59.8% of all commercial seeds; 76.1% of all Agrochemicals and these 6 Devils From Hell account for more than 76% of all private R&D. Nothing like letting the FOX watch the Hen House. Thank you – Vince

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Avatar for crush davis crush davis says:
April 2, 2015 at 11:47 am

Where’s the evidence that “GMO”‘s are “killing us?” I know…you don’t have one bc the six devils from Hell are jamming their pitchforks into the printing presses, so they can’t be published. Yep.

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Avatar for Mike Hamper Mike Hamper says:
April 2, 2015 at 9:32 am

Vincent is absolutely correct in stating the requirements to call anything WE grow as Organic. If we by some chance place a sign indicating our produce is Organic and we do NOT have a blessing of certification, we are liable for a serious and expensive fine. The unbalance of what so many, “the little “, must do to continue being Natural compared to what “big money” can do to change what is natural and financially suppress “the little” is immoral to say the least. All people have a right to know what is in their food so they can exercise a freewill right to chose. The thing most frightening to me is what the unfair cost to insure such a right will be for not only ” the little”as small producers , but for ALL consumers wanting to make an informed choice.

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Avatar for crush davis crush davis says:
April 2, 2015 at 12:51 pm

Mike you have to be kidding. Give me a break with your allusions to class warfare. You’re part of a multi-billion dollar ag industry that is charging premiums for food that is no more nutritious, healthy, or safe than conventionally-grown produce. The margins you organic people charge on a pound of ANYTHING, or a bottle of this, or box of that, are obscene. The “organic” business has a perfect scam going on…they can make just as much money as “big ag” and hide it ALL behind the facade of small-business farmers’ markets and other enterprises. All the while, a sycophantic, sympathetic media is misrepresenting it as “natural”, “pesticide free” or something else to a gullible, uninformed public. Then you and your ilk laugh all the way to the bank. This horrible legislation, which is a veritable repudiation of the federal system, is another nasty by-product, inflicted on the public by politicians that got punk’d by the organic/media apparatus. Despicable.

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Avatar for Jennifer Jennifer says:
April 2, 2015 at 2:08 pm

If Rep. Pompeo wants a single federal standard why isn’t he co-sponsoring and fighting for passage of Rep. De Fazio’s bill to label GMOs? Instead he keeps reintroducing this bill that only serves to not only prohibit statewide labeling but would also prohibit the FDA from labeling GMOs in general- they would only be allowed to label specific GMOs where it has been determined “disclosure of such difference is necessary to protect health and safety or to prevent the label or labeling of such food from being false or misleading”. There is no way of knowing which if any GMOs pose a threat to our health and safety pre-market. The FDA doesn’t do or require any independent testing and the results of the manufacturer’s own tests are considered proprietary. The long-term consequences are unknown even to the manufacturers. As such the production and consumption of GMOs amount to an enormous experiment with no control group, no traceability and no informed consent by the subjects. It is misleading not to label them. They may not be dangerous but they are different.

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Avatar for crush davis crush davis says:
April 3, 2015 at 7:43 am

What are you whining about? Either way, you’ll be happy…you get a bigger, more bloated national government with no respect for the federalist system. A government that will pass these laws, then forget about them and leave taxpayers dealing with the aftermath, while it moves on to the next sexy topic that will make the headlines. You true believers need to understand…these politicians don’t care about “peoples’ welfare”, or “the public good” or any of that other idealistic crap. They aren’t there to “help us” or “do what’s right.” Every politician in this country is in his/her place for one reason: to get rich, and get influential, and get good benefits by ripping us off and duping suckers like YOU into thinking they care. Do you think these clowns will care what happens to the food supply after ANY of their laws get passed, and rubber stamped by that idiot in the White House? Nope. 2016 is an election year–and that’s all they care about right now. The only thing racing around behind those beady, rat-eyes is, “How do I keep those benjamins rollin’ in?” They never had it so easy. Where else can you do NOTHING constructive and make 200 G’s? Well, maybe you could be the executive director of AcresUSA.

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Avatar for Jennifer Jennifer says:
April 3, 2015 at 8:10 am

Wow- talk about whining!

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Avatar for crush davis crush davis says:
April 3, 2015 at 1:49 pm

Really? That’s all you have? Nice comeback. The only reason you don’t like this law is because it MIGHT put the onus on the people who want these labels. Impose more regulations on people Jennifer DOESN’T like and it’s all good. Isn’t that right, Jennifer? Sure it is.

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Avatar for Jennifer Jennifer says:
April 4, 2015 at 8:45 am

Well, Crush, your ridiculous hate filled insulting rants don’t really merit much of a comeback but I’m feeling generous ths morning. If you want to live in a country that doesn’t have a strong central government, move to Somalia, please. You couldn’t be more off base about me or my motivations. I live in south Florida & have convenient affordable (relatively) access to just about any type of food I can imagine. I am presumably in the second half of my life & have already had cancer so this isn’t really about me. The GMOs currently on the market & all that has come with them from seed consolidation to superweeds have been bad for our country, our species and our planet. I am not against GMO technology in and of itsself. But the practical applications so far have not been used to improve overall agriculture in any way; no sustainably higher yields, no increased nutritional values, they don’t outperform non-GMO crops against droughts, etc. That would be bad enough if we were talking about some durable good or other inanimate object but since we are talking about living organisms, there is this whole added dimension of unknown consequences. To have Americans consume these products or products fed with them without a label seems not only dangerously deceptive but also stupid. It doesn’t make sense scientifically- you don’t release an experiment into the world with no intention of tracking it to see what happens not only over time but in various situations that weren’t replicated in the lab. It also doesn’t make sense from a business sense, since refusing, spending millions of dollars to fight labeling makes the public question the validity of your products so much so that there is this giant growning movement against you and your products. That Americans have overwhelmingly asked for these products to be labeled should be reason enough for their elected representatives to mandate it. Most of the same companies that sell unlabeled GMOs to American’s already label (or don’t use) them for other markets. Since the federal government has refused to act, individual states have a responsibility to their constituents to act. Adding one or more states to the lists of markets where they have to label GMOs is no hardship on those companies and should not really result in increased pricing. If they really wanted to streamlne, they would just go ahead and label them for all markets since some markets do require it. As far as the booming organics market, unlabeled GMOs are a big part of that. The GMO manufacturers have used our regulators to create a system where the people who are using tried and true, better for the environment practices have to get expensive and intrusive ongoing certification, the costs of which are passed on to the customers, while the companies using relatively new unproven and seemingly destructive practices not only require no expensive certification, they don’t have to put so much as an asterick on the label. That some companies own both organic and GMO laden brands shows that labeling is only a marketing tool to them. Their organics haven’t been proven inherantly unsafe but they don’t object to those labels at all because they know it is a draw; yet they strongly object to labeling their GMOs because they know it is a deterant. There is little demand for their products in a real maret environment so they rig the market through deception and industry strong-arming. This particular legslation prohibits GMO labeling in the US. Legislation that prohibits is no less invasive than legislation that mandates. In ths case, it is just more deceptive and potentially damning to our entre food supply.

Avatar for Sara Nussel Sara Nussel says:
April 2, 2015 at 5:16 pm

ThiS bill is an insult to the American people and a give-away to Monsanto and Big Food. We deserve to know if it’s GMO and not just because a company feels like telling us!

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Avatar for crush davis crush davis says:
April 3, 2015 at 4:23 am

Sara…”Big food?” Why isn’t a multi-billion dollar industry like organic considered “big food”? What don’t you people get about this proposed legislation? It essentially will mandate that all producers who want the so-called “GMO-free” label to go through USDA to get it. Just what you progressive want to see from the nanny state. If it passes, there will be more paperwork, more waiting, and more bureaucracy. I must say though that I will enjoy pointing that out if I hear people who wanted the labels whining about it. Such is life in the statist autocracy known as the USA.

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Avatar for Theresa Theresa says:
April 3, 2015 at 7:44 pm

Most organic buyers support our small local organic farmers who work small family farms, not the large mega farms.
The USDA will never properly label all foods that contain GMO’s. Their plan is to only label those GMO products that may not be substantially equivalent to the original food. That certainly doesn’t fly since for example, Bt gmos contain Bt, but Bt is not in the original product. This is not substantial equivalence.

Activists will persist. So it will be either “paperwork, more waiting, and more bureaucracy” (sounds like Organic certification) or the GMA and all the junk food companies will continue to spend billions to fight the anti-labeling campaigns. Also, Organics were the first foods–the true conventional food. It does not make sense that Organic farmers should be required to pay for certification. It should be the farmers that grow chemically grown food that should pay for “chemically grown certification”. Maybe we should be working in this direction.

Activism will not stop until labels on all GMO foods in the United States. And its not just about safety–not JUST about the product, its also about the process–which we choose not to support, and about how it can contaminate organic foods. This is the truth, many cases are documented on the internet. The Organic farmers are at the burden to protect their crops. http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/master-gardener/volunteers/teaching-tools/docs/minimizing_gmo_contamination.pdf

We’ve heard the story of feeding the world hundreds of times, and know this is not justification for a new market. Organics can feed the world and can yield just as much as conventional. Nutritious foods already exist to fight any VAD deficiencies.

By the way, our government is a plutocracy. http://economyincrisis.org/content/the-1-percent-not-our-elected-officials-are-governing-the-united-states

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Avatar for Matt Matt says:
April 4, 2015 at 2:22 pm

You have got to be kidding me? How do politicians have the right to decide what we see on labels? It is our right and priveleage as consumers to know EXACTLY what it is we are buying. We can make our own choices but not disclosing information is a lawsuit waiting to happen. testing is not performed over the term so we are truly not sure of the effects of GMO’s on the human or animal system. Tired of corporate control of our lives. Take back our country and food supplies!

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Avatar for chris StClaire chris StClaire says:
April 9, 2015 at 12:34 pm

yes labeling is gonna have to be mandatory but we will never stop till gmo is banned

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Avatar for Trish Thomson Trish Thomson says:
April 12, 2015 at 2:57 am

GMO is essential to freedom of information and of a democracy.

In order to put Monsanto at ease, or at least to make it palatable, perhaps one thing that can be added is:
what kind of GMO work has been done. State not only GMO products, but state what sort of GMO work was applied to the seeds, or to this plant, or to this food.

PT, 4/11/15

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Avatar for Sharon Varghese Sharon Varghese says:
April 19, 2015 at 5:07 pm

What cost, they have to list ingredients in the order of percentage of container. The dietary Information regarding fats, protein, sugar, sodium etc. is listed. Why shouldn’t we have access to information regarding if the products are GMO, what pesticides are used on crops, what antibiotics and hormones are used on livestock?
GMO crops using traditional methods of development, getting the wanted characteristics between different varieties of beans is one thing. Using genes from different species is something else. A horse and donkey can mate and get a mule, but that mule can’t reproduce. There must be some reason.
I want all my food labeled. It is my right and yours too.

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Avatar for Michael LaBelle (@jmichaellabelle) Michael LaBelle (@jmichaellabelle) says:
May 8, 2015 at 2:56 pm

Sharon, hybridization is NOT “genetic modification” according to the definition for GMO. There is nothing wrong with hybridization, other than you may end up with traits that are undesirable, such as the altered proteins in modern wheat. This is supposedly ONE of the reasons a certain percentage of the population has developed celiacs disease. Of course another reason could be the practice of spraying wheat with glyphosate in order to cause it all to dry down at the same time.

Either way, hybridization does not introduce bacterial/fungal DNA into the genetic material of a plant or cross any number of animal genes with produce.

BTW, I agree that if our “food” companies can offer GMO free products to Europe, they can offer them to the US. And whatever cost are associated with those products can be passed along to the consumers. Offer (1) GMO and (2) GMO Free products, with the Free products at a higher price. Let the market decide. If the market rejects the Free products, then everyone can just shut up because the market will have spoken.

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