The Real Winners of the World Cup

By Violet Batcha, Just Label It Communications and Social Media Manager and Libby Foley, EWG Policy Analyst

The 32 countries competing in the 2014 FIFA World Cup ™ are all required to play by the same rules on the soccer field, but off the field, they subscribe to different sets of rules when it comes to labeling genetically engineered foods.

Environmental Working Group and the Just Label It campaign teamed up to find out how many teams playing in the tournament are from countries that actually label GE foods. The analysis found that the U.S. is one of the 13 participating countries – including several developing nations – that have no mandatory labeling law.

Despite producing more GE crops than any other country playing in the tournament (or any country in the world, for that matter), the United States continues to deny its citizens full information about their food.

The 19 countries competing in the World Cup that require labeling of GE foods include all of our European and Asian trading partners and Brazil, this year’s tournament host and the world’s second-leading producer of GE crops.

It’s time for the U.S. to level the playing field, follow the lead of the majority of World Cup competitors and start labeling GE foods.

Explore this interactive map to find out more on how each country stacks up on GE labeling.

Data on countries’ GE laws were provided by Center for Food Safety.