GMO Food Labels Would Increase Transparency For Consumers

The Minneapolis Star Tribune (3/31, 335K) editorialized Minnesota officials should craft legislation that informs consumers about genetically engineered foods. The editorial board writes, “As Americans awaken in greater numbers to the link between nutrition and health, they’re demanding transparency on food labels in order to make the best choices for their diets, whether because of allergies, diabetes, vegetarianism, religion or other reasons.”

The board believes that American consumers “have a right to know what’s in the food they’re buying, and that’s currently not the case with genetically engineered ingredients, which are in the majority of processed foods in US supermarkets.” The board also warns that “the nation’s most powerful biotech, agribusiness, chemical and packaged-food companies are spending millions to prevent change,” and what at stake is not about “food safety, but basic consumer information.”

The Roll Call (4/2, Rojas, Subscription Publication) “Heard on the Hill” blog reports that on April 8, “food activists opposed to genetically modified crops will take their fight to the US Food and Drug Administration...sponsoring an old school eat-in at the agency’s College Park, Md., campus staged around a truly historic meal.”

An all-day “anti-GMO protest is scheduled for April 8 outside the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition and will feature a full day of activities. It will include the preparation and consumption of a massive cauldron...of all-inclusive ‘stone soup.’” According to the blog, “Occupy Monsanto organizer Adam Eidinger told HOH that the event is geared toward one simple goal: a clear understanding of what we are all eating.”