VERMONT TO REQUIRE GMO LABELING

By Miriam Raftery

May 4, 2014 (San Diego’s East County)-Vermont is poised to become the first state in the nation to enact legislation requiring labeling of products that contain genetically modified organisms, or GMOs.  Governor Pete Shumlin is expected to sign the bill on May 8.

Passage of the bill paves the way for other states to follow suit.  Also, food manufacturers may reformulate their products nationwide to be GMO free, rather than create special labels in just one state—or several, if more states with GMO bills pending follow suit.  Already, Connecticut and Maine have passed GMO labeling laws but with trigger clauses requiring several other states to pass labeling requirements before these go into effect.  Some other states have ballot initiatives pending.

This has already occurred in other countries that have required labeling or banned GMO products altogether.

But the grocery industry doesn’t want consumers to know if foods are genetically modified or not. So the Grocery Manufacturers Association is trying to push a bill through congress that would preempt Vermont’s new law, or similar laws in other states in the future, the Organic Consumers Association warns.