BY LINDA BENTLEY | OCTOBER 26, 2011
California pushes to label GMOs
Ballot initiative could be death knell to ‘Frankenfood’ express
CHINO, Calif. – In March 1994, Asgrow Seed Co. (a Monsanto subsidiary) President Norman Braksick was quoted in the Kansas City Star as saying: “If you put a label on genetically engineered food you might as well put a skull and crossbones on it.”
The Committee for the Right to Know, a political action committee based in Chino, Calif., is preparing to begin a signature drive to require just that – mandatory GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) labeling – on the California ballot in 2012.
The initiative aims to require mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods and food ingredients, which have also been referred to as “Frankenfoods.”
The initiative is backed by a broad base of health, environmental and consumer groups, and is heartily endorsed by Dr. Joseph Mercola, an alternative medicine advocate, who promotes dietary and lifestyle approaches to health.
Surveys also indicate 90 to 95 percent of the general public want to know which foods contain GMOs.
Europe is almost entirely devoid of genetically modified foods because they are banned in several countries. The countries in which they are permitted require mandatory labeling of GMO ingredients, which has, for the most part, steered consumers away from those products.
LabelGMOs.org is organizing the campaign to get the initiative on the ballot in California as soon as the state completes its review of the initiative, which takes 40-60 days.
The PAC will then have 150 days to collect the required 504,760 qualifying signatures to place the measure on the November 2012 ballot.
LabelGMOs.org expects it will need to collect between 750,000 to 800,000 signatures to ensure it qualifies for the ballot.
NaturalNews.com believes labeling could potentially be the death knell for GMOs and said it believes labeling will essentially be a ban on genetically engineered foods, since most consumers will not purchase foods containing GMOs if they are aware of them.
In the United States, GMOs have become so prevalent, even companies like Whole Foods have been unable to avoid them.
Whole Foods Quality Standards Coordinator Joe Dickson told NaturalNews.com, “Until there’s federal government mandated labeling of GMO ingredients, there’s no way to tell if packaged products contain GMO ingredients.”
In the interim, he said Whole Foods’ approach is to work with its suppliers and encourage them to take active steps to avoid GMO ingredients.
Visit LabelGMOs.org for more information, to donate, or, if in California, volunteer to collect signatures.
