600+ Groups and 9 out of 10 Americans Agree: We Need GMO Labeling

Vermont’s bill to label GMOs goes into effect in July, so naturally Big Food and its cronies in Congress have pulled out the stops to prevent people in the Green Mountain State from knowing if their food contains GMO ingredients. While efforts to pass the DARK Act have stalled for now, GMO labeling advocates are still working to make sure that Vermont’s law goes into effect this summer.

That’s why last week over 600 groups representing millions of American consumers urged the Senate to allow Vermont’s law to go into effect, and to encourage Congress to support a mandatory, on-package labeling requirement for food that contains GMO ingredients.

Major food companies like Campbell’s, General Mills, Mars, Kellogg’s and ConAgra have recently announced plans to label GMO ingredients in their products, but we can’t rely on individual companies to do what’s right. That's why Vermont’s law is so important.

While certain “compromise” measures like QR codes, barcodes, phone numbers or website addresses that direct consumers to information about GMO ingredients have been suggested, those are unacceptable. Imagine standing in a grocery store and having to scan each item of food with your smartphone to find out a simple fact about the item you’re about to put in your cart—that’s insane. And what if you’re among the half of all rural residents and three quarters of people over the age of 65 who don’t own a smartphone—are you not allowed to know if your food contains GMOs? 

People have good reasons for wanting to know if their food is made with GMO ingredients. A large majority of GMO crops are treated with a weed killer called glyphosate. Last year the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer listed glyphosate as a probable human carcinogen. Labeling GMOs can help consumers limit their exposure to crops treated with glyphosate.

9 out of 10 Americans polled want to know if the food they eat and feed their families contains GMO ingredients. People in 64 other countries already enjoy that right. You can help by standing with the groups that oppose the DARK Act by telling your senators to protect GMO labeling. Don’t let corporations like Monsanto have the final say in your food choices.