Battle Brewing Over Labeling of Genetically Modified Food

[no_hypocrisy]

On a recent sunny morning at the Big Y grocery here, Cynthia LaPier parked her cart in the cereal aisle. With a glance over her shoulder and a quick check of the ingredients, she plastered several boxes with hand-designed stickers from a roll in her purse. “Warning,” they read. “May Contain GMO’s (Genetically Modified Organisms).”

-snip-

Supporters of labeling argue that consumers have a right to know when food has been modified with genes from another species, which they say is fundamentally different from the selective breeding process used in nearly all crops.

Almost all the corn and soybeans grown in the United States now contain DNA derived from bacteria. The foreign gene makes the soybeans resistant to an herbicide used in weed control, and causes the corn to produce its own insecticide.

-snip-

But some food experts argue that food manufacturers have an obligation to label. Consumers “have a right to take genetic modification into consideration,” said Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University. “And if the companies think consumer objections are stupid and irrational, they should explain the benefits of their products.”

-more-

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/25/science/dispute-over-labeling-of-genetically-modified-food.html?_r=1&hpw

[pipoman]

1. Seems to me Cynthia should have to pay for her vandalism..

other than that, I am more concerned about country of origin than about "gmo's", we can't even get that on products..

[get the red out]

2. We do have a right to know

People should be able to know what's in their food, to me that's a no-brainer! It really does make people more suspicious about GMO food when it seems the manufacturer's want to hide that fact. That's just human nature. Personally, I'd like to avoid it when possible until we've had more time to process if there are any negative effects from eating it. But to each his own; if we are permitted the information.

[qb]

3. I guess at this point, if there isn't a "No GMO" label, we can assume it's GMO.

I support honesty in food labeling.

[no_hypocrisy]

4. Here's the thing: even if labels say "organic",

the GMO industries are influencing the FDA and Agriculture Department to loosen the standards of what qualifies as "organic", thereby diluting (if not destroying) the integrity of the product and misleading the public.

And organic milk is not allowed to label that it doesn't contain bovine growth hormone and/or antibiotics.

[NC_Nurse]

5. This is such bullshit. Since when is it legal to mandate that nobody can label products? Since

Monsanto bought the govt, that's when.