News
2013-01-07 | permalink
Organizers confident Washington state non-GMO initiative will hit signature goal
A Washington state ballot initiative that seeks to require GMO labeling is nearing its goal of 320,000 signatures, a goal organizers are confident that it will reach. “We are in the last three weeks of our signature drive. We hired paid signature gathers and we have volunteers. We are locked and loaded,” Chris McManus, one of the sponsors of the initiative, told FoodNavigator-USA. The initiative, I-522, titled “The People’s Right To Know Genetically Engineered Food Act” would require labeling of food products (including dietary supplements) that contain GMO ingredients. It bears some resemblance to California’s Proposition 37, which went down to defeat in the November election.
Food Navigator, USA: Organizers confident Washington state non-GMO initiative will hit signature goal- The Seattle Times, USA: Initiative to require labeling GMO food to be submitted
- The Spokesman-Review, USA: State may vote on GMO labeling
- Herald, USA: Measure would require labels for genetically modified food
- Thomson Reuters, USA: Genetically modified food labeling measure to qualify for Washington state ballot
- Capital Press, USA: Petition for GMO labels goes to Wash. Secretary of State
- KPLU News, USA: Backers say I-522 on GMO labeling would protect state economy
- Seattle Weekly, USA: GMO labeling fables
2013-01-07 | permalink
GMO food fight in the USA: Round two 2013
On November 6, in the wake of one of the most expensive and scurrilous smear campaigns in history, six million voters scared the hell out of Monsanto and Big Food Inc. by coming within a razor’s edge of passing the first statewide mandatory labeling law for genetically modified organisms.Prop 37, a citizens’ ballot initiative that would have required the mandatory labeling of billions of dollars of genetically engineered foods and put an end to the routine industry practice of fraudulently marketing GE-tainted foods as “natural” or “all natural,” lost by a narrow margin of 48.6% to 51.4%. [...] Jennifer Hatcher, senior vice president of government and public affairs for the Food Marketing Institute, came closer to expressing the real sentiments of the big guns who opposed Prop 37, a measure she had previously said “scared us to death,” in her official statement: “This gives us hope that you can, with a well-funded, well-organized, well-executed campaign, defeat a ballot initiative and go directly to the voters. We hope we don’t have too many of them, because you can’t keep doing that over and over again . . .”.
2013-01-04 | permalink
UK government’s enthusiasm for GM not matched in developing nations
After years of encouraging developing countries in Africa and elsewhere to grow them, but unable to allow its own farmers to do so, the environment secretary Owen Paterson has told a major conference that GM can secure countries’ food supplies, is good for the public and can help limit climate change. [...] But despite billions of dollars spent on research by rich countries on feeding hungry people, most developing countries remain suspicious of the claims, or convinced that the benefits will go mainly to the corporations that control the seeds and chemicals needed to grow the crops. What is remarkable is not that GM crops have, after 20 years and so much money spent, now reached 19 out of more than 150 developing countries, but that most nations have managed to keep out a rapacious industry, and that only a handful of GM food commodity crops like oilseed rape, soya and maize are still grown, mainly for animals and biofuels.
2013-01-03 | permalink
A GMO-free New Mexico? Land of enchantment to debate labeling
New Mexico state senator Peter Wirth (D-Santa Fe) has filed an amendment to the state's food act to require the labeling of genetically modified food ingredients. Working with the NGO, Food & Water Watch, Wirth drafted the amendment, SB 18, to require that foods sold in New Mexico be labeled if they contain more than one percent of genetically modified food ingredients. So, will visitors to Santa Fe and the rest of New Mexico soon be reassured that their green chile-slathered meals and sopapillas will be over 99 percent GMO free?
- Triple Pundit, USA: A GMO-free New Mexico? Land of enchantment to debate labeling
- Food & Water Watch, USA: Amendment to label GE food pre-filed for New Mexico Senate's consideration
- Nation of Change, USA: Next Prop 37? New Mexico law calls for mandatory labeling of GMOs
- Digital Journal, USA: New Mexico next in line to try for GMO labeling
- Food Safety News, USA (FSA): Genetically modified food labeling bill pre-filed in New Mexico Senate
2013-01-03 | permalink
Obama administration snubs risks, moves forward with GE salmon approval
Center for Food Safety sharply criticized today's U.S. Food and Drug Administration's announcement releasing an Environmental Assessment on the controversial AquaBounty AquaAdvantage transgenic salmon. The FDA action is widely viewed as confirmation that the Obama Administration is prepared to approve shortly the first genetically engineered animal intended for human consumption in the face of widespread opposition. ”It is extremely disappointing that the Obama Administration continues to push approval of this dangerous and unnecessary product,” said Andrew Kimbrell, executive director for Center for Food Safety. ”The GE salmon has no socially redeeming value; it's bad for the consumer, bad for the salmon industry and bad for the environment. FDA's decision is premature and misguided.”
- Center for Food Safety, USA (CFS): Obama administration snubs risks, moves forward with GE salmon approval
- Consumers Union, USA: Consumers Union says FDA assessment of GE salmon is flawed and inadequate
AquaBounty Technologies, USA: Update on FDA approval- Forbes, USA: Obama’s science commitment, FDA face ethics scrutiny in wake of GMO salmon fiasco
- Biotechnolgy Industry Organisation, USA (BIO): BIO applauds FDA action on GE salmon
