Vermont
A tall Senate wall for GMO-disclosure bill to climb
The Roberts-Stabenow bill to pre-empt state GMO food-labeling laws and to mandate disclosure through text, QR code or symbol will need a super-majority of 60 votes to pass the Senate, the first step toward becoming law. The bill would supersede Vermont's first-in-the-nation labeling law, which takes effect Friday and requires a special "made with GMOs" label on the package.
Time is short for congressional passage for GMO food-labeling bill
Lawmakers have a relatively short timetable, expiring in mid-July, if they want to override quickly Vermont's first-in-the-nation GMO food-labeling law, which goes into effect on Friday. While Senate Agriculture Committee leaders need to line up 60 votes to pass their compromise bill, possibly this week, the initial response in the House was cool.
Senate Ag leaders agree on GMO food-labeling bill … but too late
Leaders of the Senate Agriculture Committee agreed on mandatory nationwide labeling of GMO foods, allowing use of QR codes and symbols as well as wording on packages, under a system that would take effect in two years or so. The legislation would pre-empt state labeling laws but Congress cannot act quickly enough to prevent Vermont's first-in-the-nation law from taking effect on July 1.
As time runs out for GMO-food-label legislation, Vermont stands alone
Vermont will stand alone among states when its first-in-the-nation GMO-food-labeling law takes effect on July 1. Some food companies already have changed their labels nationwide to assure compliance with the Vermont law and a spokeswoman for Senate Agriculture chairman Pat Roberts said, "We hope to have something ready very soon" to preempt state labeling.
Vermont to delay citizen right to sue over GMO labels
Consumers will not be allowed to sue over companies' failure to label GMO foods until next summer, Vermont legislators decided, with the state's first-in-the-nation label law taking effect July 1.
Stabenow floats GMO labeling plan
The senior Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee gave a copy of her GMO food-labeling bill to chairman Pat Roberts and started staff-level briefings of farm and environmental groups, said The Hagstrom Report — steps that suggest a well-advanced effort to resolve the issue.
GMO food-labeling impasse defies Senate solution
The leaders of the Senate Agriculture Committee say they're trying to resolve the congressional stand-off over labeling foods made with genetically modified organisms, with the first mandatory labeling law to take effect in 10 weeks in Vermont.
In Granite State and beyond, hard choices on Vermont GMO-label law
Mary McDonald, co-owner of a three-employee sauce-making company in New Hampshire, says she'll put hundreds of hours into researching ingredients in order to comply with the GMO food-labeling law that takes effect in neighboring Vermont on July 1.
Vilsack: mandatory disclosure is ‘the only way’ to resolve GMO labeling
With the Senate at an impasse over GMO-food labeling, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack encouraged senators to "figure out a way to reach common ground."
ConAgra to label GMO foods; activists ask, ‘Who’s next?’
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.
Impasse on GMO labeling: state pre-emption meets mandatory disclosure
A third major food company, Mars Inc., says it will put GMO labels on its products nationwide and pointed to Vermont's first-in-the-nation labeling law as the impetus.
Food industry: General Mills’ decision shows need to pre-empt states
General Mills will join Campbell Soup in alerting consumers when its products contain GMOs, but the companies are on opposite sides of the GMO-labeling issue.
A sticky subject – maple syrup that isn’t from maple trees
U.S. and Canadian maple syrup producers asked the FDA to stop food companies from selling products that claim to contain maple syrup when it isn't the real thing, says CBC. Maple syrup is made by boiling down sap from maple trees, while others are diluting the product with corn syrup.
Clock is ticking on GMO food labeling
The food industry is bankrolling a publicity blitz against mandatory GMO food labels that includes "a six-figure campaign that is running ads in prime time on network and cable TV in and around the nation’s capital," says the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
Stabenow: GMO pre-emption ‘needs to move quickly’ in Senate
he Democratic leader on the Senate Agriculture Committee said she is committed to passing a bill that pre-empts state GMO food-labeling laws. "This needs to needs to move quickly," said Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan. Vermont's first-in-the-nation labeling law will take effect on July 1. The food industry says Congress needs to override the Vermont law before the end of this year to prevent a costly hodgepodge of labeling rules.
First step against labeling is to show GMO food is safe – Roberts
Chairman Pat Roberts says the Senate Agriculture Committee "will prove to the American people their food is safe" before it considers legislation to over-ride state GMO food-labeling laws, said the Topeka (Kan) Capital-Journal. A committee hearing on agricultural biotechnology is scheduled for Oct 21.
Appellate hearing looms for Vermont GMO labeling law
Lawyers for the Grocery Manufacturers Association will make a last-ditch attempt on Thursday to prevent Vermont's first-in-the-name GMO food labeling law from taking effect. says Food Navigator. A federal district judge refused to issue an injunction so GMA will present arguments to the U.S. appeals court in New York City.
Senate hearing near on GMO-labeling legislation
The Senate Agriculture Committee is likely to set a date for a biotechnology hearing later this week, says a spokeswoman. It would be the first sign in months of movement in the chamber on legislation to pre-empt state laws on GMO food labeling and to keep labeling voluntary on the federal level.