Food Industry Leaders Call for Mandatory GMO Labeling

Food Industry Leaders Call for Mandatory GMO Labeling

Survey Shows Strong Support for Mandatory GMO Labeling

For Immediate Release: May 20, 2015

WASHINGTON – Armed with new national survey results showing overwhelming support for mandatory labeling of genetically modified foods (GMOs), top executives from Ben & Jerry’s, Chipotle, Stonyfield Farm, Patagonia and other companies today urged lawmakers to oppose legislation designed to block labeling of GMO foods and called instead for mandatory national GMO labeling.

Three states have passed GMO labeling laws and 17 other states are considering similar measures. But Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kans.) has introduced federal legislation dubbed the DARK Act to block these state laws and make it harder for the federal Food and Drug Administration to develop a national GMO labeling solution.

Despite massive spending against GMO labeling by some food and biotechnology companies, the new national survey, conducted by the Mellman Group, found significant support for mandatory labeling of GMO-foods among both Democrats and Republicans.

Overall, 88 percent of American voters said they support mandatory GMO labeling. Moreover, the survey found that large supermajority levels of support for requiring GMO labels transcend party lines, with 86 percent of Republicans and independents joining 93 percent of Democrats in support of GMO labels. The overwhelming level of support for labels is not surprising in light of another finding: 87 percent of American voters say it is “important” that foods which have been genetically modified or contain genetically modified ingredients be labeled. This view is also widespread across party lines, with 90 percent of Democrats, 85 percent of Republicans, and 85 percent of independents in agreement on that point.

“As this latest public opinion poll shows, by a wide margin, Americans strongly support a nationwide labeling law of foods that have been genetically engineered,” said Gary Hirshberg, co-founder of Stonyfield Farm and founder of Just Label It. “When Republicans, Democrats and independents come together with this level of support for a single issue, Congress should listen. It clearly shows that the vast majority of the public believes they have a right to know what’s in their food and how it was grown.”

A recent finding that the main herbicide used in combination with GMO crops is “probably carcinogenic to humans” has lent new momentum to efforts to require GMO labeling.

“The biotech industry has played a central role in the nation’s pesticide treadmill,” Hirshberg added. “This toxic, probable carcinogen is such a mainstay of genetically engineered agriculture, it’s now found in rainwater, air and soil. Some recent tests have even detected it in infant formula and breast milk samples. Concerned consumers should be permitted to know which foods are contributing to this explosion in use of glyphosate.”

Reps. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), and Ann McLane Kuster (D-N.H.) joined a press conference with a group of executives that included Jerry Greenfield, co- founder of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream; Shazi Visram, founder and CEO of Happy Family; Joshua Brau, Food with Integrity program manager for Chipotle; Rose Marcario, CEO of Patagonia; and Gary Hirshberg, co-founder of Stonyfield Farm and Just Label It.