Consumer alert: GMO labeling to be outlawed by 'Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act' introduced today in Congress
Thursday, April 10, 2014
by
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Editor of NaturalNews.com
(See all articles...)
(NaturalNews)
A proposed new federal law just introduced by Rep. G.K. Butterfield (a
Democrat) and Rep. Mike Pompeo (a Republican) would outlaw state-enacted
GMO labeling laws. The new law, ridiculously called the
Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act,
is actually an last-ditch, desperate effort by the biotech industry and
the GMA to forever bury the truth about GMOs so that consumers don't
know they're eating poison.
According to mainstream media reports
(1), the bill would require the FDA to mandate GMO labeling only if
those foods "are found to be unsafe or materially different from foods
produced without biotech ingredients."
Because the FDA and USDA
have already decided, against all scientific evidence, that GMOs are
"safe" and "not materially different" from other foods, this requirement
is nothing but sheer sleight of hand and a pandering to idiocy. In
truth, this new bill, if passed into law, would allow food companies to
permanently and insidiously
hide GMOs in all their products forever, nullifying the numerous state-based GMO labeling laws which are on the verge of passing.
The
Environmental Working Group calls this proposed new law the "DARK Act" (Denying Americans the Right to Know), saying:
After
two states have passed GE labeling bills and more than 30 others are
poised to consider similar labeling bills and ballot initiatives, the
food and biotech industry have goat-roped some members of Congress into
introducing legislation to block state GE labeling laws.
Push for GMOs run by criminally-minded organizations
GMOs
have already been restricted or banned in over 60 countries (2), and
Americans are very close to achieving victory in state-based GMO
labeling campaigns. The very idea that American consumers might find out
they've been eating GMO poisons in most of their favorite foods is so
horrifying to the biotech industry (and the processed food front groups)
that its enforcers are now seeking this "nuclear option" to legally
deceive consumers about GMOs with the complicity of the FDA.
Read More Here
.....
U.S. bill seeks to block mandatory GMO food labeling by states
April 9 Wed Apr 9, 2014 12:46pm EDT
(Reuters)
- A Republican congressman from Kansas introduced legislation on
Wednesday that would nullify efforts in multiple states to require
labeling of genetically modified foods
The bill, dubbed the "Safe
and Accurate Food Labeling Act" was drafted by U.S. Rep. Mike Pompeo
from Kansas, and is aimed at overriding bills in roughly two dozen
states that would require foods made with genetically engineered crops
to be labeled as such.
The bill specifically prohibits any mandatory labeling of foods developed using bioengineering.
"We've
got a number of states that are attempting to put together a patchwork
quilt of food labeling requirements with respect to genetic modification
of foods," said Pompeo. "That makes it enormously difficult to operate a
food system. Some of the campaigns in some of these states aren't
really to inform consumers but rather aimed at scaring them. What this
bill attempts to do is set a standard."
Consumer groups have been
arguing for labeling because of questions they have both about the
safety for human health and the environmental impacts of genetically
modified foods, also called GMOs.
Ballot measures in California in
2012 and last year in Washington state narrowly lost after GMO crop
developers, including Monsanto Co., and members of the Grocery
Manufacturers Association (GMA) poured millions into campaigns to defeat
the measures.
The companies say the crops are safe and cite many
scientific studies back those claims. Pompeo on Wednesday reiterated
those claims, stating GMOS are safe and "equally healthy" and no
labeling is needed.
"It has to date made food safer and more abundant," said Pompeo. "It has been an enormous boon to all of humanity."
But
there are also many scientific studies showing links to human and
animal health problems, and many indicating environmental damage related
to GMO crops.
Read More Here
.....
Congress considers blocking GMO food labeling
Published time: April 09, 2014 20:10
Edited time: April 10, 2014 11:01
AFP Photo / Robyn Beck
A
new bill introduced in Congress looks to ban states from implementing
their own labeling laws when it comes to food containing genetically
engineered ingredients.
According to Reuters, US Rep. Mike Pompeo
(R-Kan.) introduced the legislation on Wednesday, which is intended to
head off bills in about 24 states that would require companies to inform
customers when their food is produced using genetically modified
organisms (GMOs). Titled the “Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act,” the
proposal would forbid states from enacting such proposals.
"We've
got a number of states that are attempting to put together a patchwork
quilt of food labeling requirements with respect to genetic modification
of foods," Pompeo told Reuters.
"That makes it enormously
difficult to operate a food system. Some of the campaigns in some of
these states aren't really to inform consumers but rather aimed at
scaring them. What this bill attempts to do is set a standard."
Supporters
of GMO labeling argue that modified ingredients pose a threat to human
health, and that as a result they should be clearly labeled in the
marketplace so that consumers can make informed decisions. In addition
to health concerns, they also point to the negative environmental
consequences that could arise from widespread GMO use, since millions of
acres of farmland and weeds are developing resistances to the
pesticides used.
Opponents, however, point to their own studies,
showing that GMO crops are safe and therefore do not need to be labeled
differently than other products.
Read More Here
.....
