In his article, entitled Big Food spends millions to defeat GMO Labeling in key state New York, and published in Genetic Literacy Project, David Klepper (not Keppler – this determination took some investigation) highlights certain aspects of the latest mandatory labeling battle taking place in New York State. With the legislative session scheduled to end this Thursday, how the issue will be resolved and if it will be resolved before the next session convenes is a big question. One industry spokesperson, against mandatory labeling, accurately expressed that “[o]n the surface these labels sound innocent, but they’re equivalent to a skull and crossbones.”
Genuine science has fought hard against the deeply distorted impression that the consumption of GMO foods and ingredients is hazardous to human health. Food has been genetically modified for hundreds of years with no material changes. What has changed is the method of crossbreeding: it is now more accurate and therefore, arguably safer. Unfortunately, misinformation, unpopularity, false advertising, pseudoscience and the organic food industry, among others, have all played a role in bringing current, scientifically unsubstantiated pro-labeling concerns to the forefront. In the book, Thwarting Consumer Choice, The Case against Mandatory Labeling for Genetically Modified Foods authors Marchant, Cardineau and Redick note that, “mandatory GM labeling is not only a poor public policy decision in its own right, but it would also set a dangerous precedent that would open the floodgates to politically motivated, unscientific labeling requirements…there is no scientific or health basis for such labeling requirements. Rather, such demands seek to block beneficial new technologies and are not consistent with, or responsible to, the well-being or wishes of the general public.” Let’s hope New York makes the right, scientific choice.