GMO Labeling Bill Moves Forward

Taylor Hillman General

Corn field
A House committee has passed the GMO (genetically modified) Labeling Bill H.R. 1599, the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015. The bill could move to the House floor as early as next week. California representatives Jim Costa (D-16), David Validao (R-21), Devin Nunes (R-22), and Stephen Knight (R-25) were among the co-sponsors of the bill. The bill would establish a certification process through USDA for foods labeled as non-GMO and prevent states from requiring the labeling of food with genetically modified ingredients.

The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) supports the bill. AFBF President Bob Stallman issued a statement shortly after the passage this morning, stating “the American Farm Bureau Federation is pleased that Congress is moving to bring greater clarity to food labeling. H.R. 1599 empowers consumers by continuing to require warning labels for foods that may have adverse effects on the public.”

“At the same time, it does away with labeling schemes that would stigmatize foods based on nothing more than the way in which they were developed,” Stallman continued. “This bill is an antidote to anti-GMO initiatives that make people wrongly fear the food they eat. Such regulations generally ignore science and undermine the public’s understanding of the food farmers and ranchers produce. H.R. 1599 restores reason to our food discussions and shows pseudoscience and food quackery the door. We look forward to passage by the full House in the very near future.”