The Just Label It campaign for mandatory labeling of food made with genetically modified organisms “rolled out a trio of academics on Wednesday in a bid to raise public awareness of the public health and environmental costs of herbicides used in the production of genetically engineered crops,” said Agri-Pulse. “Their main target was U.S. agriculture’s increasing use of glyphosate, the key ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide,” considered “probably carcinogenic” to humans by a UN agency. The academics said use of glyphosate and other pesticides has zoomed since the 1990s despite predictions that GMO crops would mean lower usage.
Agri-Pulse says two recent studies found lower overall use. The Coalition for Safe and Affordable Food, an umbrella group of farm and business organizations, said, “The Just Label It campaign is flailing around with a series of attacks and claims that show their GMO-labeling agenda simply has no scientific footing on which to stand.”