The seventh-largest food and beverage company in Canada and the United States, ConAgra Foods, says it will comply with Vermont’s first-in-the-nation GMO food-labeling law by putting labels on products sold throughout the country. Kellogg, General Mills and Mars made similar announcements in the past week. All four urged Congress to over-ride state GMO label laws and set a national standard. At present, FDA says labeling is voluntary. The food industry would like to keep it that way.
Senators rejected a bill last week that would have pre-empted state label laws and set up a voluntary system for disclosing ingredients on the Internet, through toll-free telephone lines or QR codes on packages. The vote “gives Congress the opportunity to craft a national mandatory GMO labeling compromise that works for Americans and the food industry,” said the pro-labeling Environmental Working Group. “In the interim, the question is, which company will be next to provide clear GMO labeling right on its packages, where shoppers want to see it?”
Foodmakers say federal pre-emption is vital to prevent a potential thicket of conflicting state laws, a point ConAgra made in its announcement. It said “addressing state-by-state labeling requirements adds significant complications and costs for food companies … That’s why we continue to urge Congress to pass a national solution as quickly as possible.”
Vermont has the only active law, with labeling to begin on July 1 and a six-month grace period for compliance. Connecticut and Maine have GMO label laws on the books but they won’t become effective unless at least four neighboring states enact similar legislation. One labeling activist pointed to Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New York as the best prospects for action this year.
Committees in the Massachusetts and New York state legislatures have approved GMO label bills this year. The Rhode Island state Senate Health Committee held a hearing this week on a bill to require GMO food labels if four other states take similar action, said Associated Press.
Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley, who voted for the unsuccessful bill to pre-empt state laws, says it will be difficult for Congress to agree on a GMO bill before Vermont’s law takes effect, reported the Des Moines Register. “It’s going to be very difficult to get such a bipartisan agreement, and I wouldn’t be surprised that what you are going to find (is) some food companies that think the business for 600,000 people in Vermont is probably not worth it, and they’ll quit doing business there,” Grassley said during a tele-conference. No company, however, has yet announced it is going to quit selling in Vermont due to the labeling issue.