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Monsanto is Counting the Days Until the Vermont Labeling Law Goes Into Effect
Tell Your Senators to Support Real GMO Labeling, Not the DARK Act!
Dear Alison,
Thankfully we kept "Monsanto's dream bill" from passing last year, but with less than 5 months until the Vermont law requiring GMO food labeling goes into effect, the industry is in a panic and pushing harder than ever!
Ask your Senators to oppose any attempt to remove labeling for genetically engineered foods, and to fight for a clear, on-package mandatory labeling solution.
Even if you've already taken action, it's really important that your Senators hear from you again.
A bill to prevent mandatory labeling of genetically engineered (GMO) food could be introduced in the Senate any day now, and we're hearing rumors that the industry is still pushing for QR codes as a "compromise" way to label GMOs.
That square of black and white dots in the image on the right is a QR code; you can scan it with a special smart phone app and it will take you to a webpage. Big Food Corporations and some Senators are proposing to put these QR codes on food products as a solution to labeling genetically engineered foods. There are more than a few things wrong with this approach:
- QR codes don't actually give you any information on a food package.
- Most people don't know what QR codes are.
- Many people do not have the smart phones that would be required to read QR codes.
- If companies are able to update a label to include a QR code, they could easily update a label to include the words "Contains Genetically Engineered Ingredients."
In poll after poll, more than 90% of people say they want food to be labeled if it contains genetically engineered ingredients. Several states have already passed laws requiring clear labeling on food packaging, including Vermont, where labeling will go into effect in July unless Monsanto and its allies pass legislation through Congress to prohibit states from labeling GMOs.
Last month, Campbell's announced that it will label all of its products that contain genetically engineered ingredients to comply with the Vermont law. This was big news and we hope that other food companies will stop lobbying against GMO labels and also comply with the Vermont law. However, food industry executives and some GMO labeling supporters met behind closed doors at the USDA last month to try to work out a compromise, and those discussions broke down with no agreement. Industry is still pushing the dangerous QR code idea.
Big Food lobbyists are now pushing the Senate to pass something as soon as possible, so it's critical that your Senators hear from you!
There's a reason why we call the bill that passed the House last summer the Deny Americans the Right to Know Act (DARK Act). This bill would prohibit any states from labeling GMOs and make federal labeling voluntary - which is what we have already - and not a single product is labeled as containing genetically engineered ingredients. The rumored QR code solution is just another way to keep GMO ingredients secret.
Tell your Senators that voluntary labels don't work, and QR codes won't either if companies are trying to keep secrets.
Thanks for taking action,
Sarah Alexander
Deputy Organizing Director
Food & Water Watch
act(at)fwwatch(dot)org 
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