GMO labeling and a GOP family feud in Kansas | Food and Environment Reporting Network

Rep Mike Pompeo, sponsor of a bill to pre-empt states from labeling of GMO foods, is challenged in the Aug 5 Republican primary in Kansas by his predecessor, Todd Tiahrt. The Topeka Capital-Journal describes it as “a GOP family feud punctuated by slash-and-burn denunciations. This is clearly a race capable of ripping Republicans apart.” The candidates vie to show who is more conservative. Both have wealthy backers. A mid-June poll by SurveyUSA for KSN-TV said Pompeo was leading, 51-34.

Pompeo’s bill, which as two dozen cosponsors, has sat in a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee since it was filed on April 11. It would make it voluntary in most cases for foodmakers to put special labels on foods made with genetically modified organisms besides blocking state labeling laws. A handful of bills to mandate GMO labeling or to label GMO salmon also are idle in subcommittee.

Meanwhile, the Mississippi Republican Party certified six-term Sen Thad Cochran as the winner of the June 24 run-off primary. Cochran defeated state Sen Chris McDaniel by 7,667 votes, 194,932 to 187,265, according to GOP totals. McDaniel “is poised to launch an unprecedented legal challenge” of the results, said the Los Angeles Times.