Why, when the overwhelming majority of Americans favor labeling of genetically engineered foods, is it not mandatory!? Especially when you claim that GMO's are so wonderful and do no harm, wouldn't you want to promote them with labeling? But more so the fact that they are labeled (or banned) in every other country except the US.

Expert response from Community Manager

Thursday, 15/08/2013 14:56

Thanks for your question. Cathy Enright, Executive Director of the Council for Biotechnology Information, responded to a similar question which addresses labeling here http://gmoanswers.com/ask/why-did-teh-gmos-spend-40million-stop-lebellin...

Expert response from jcohen1

Friday, 07/11/2014 16:02

You’ve raised some important questions and concerns that many people share with you. We’ve had the opportunity to address these questions in previous responses on GMO Answers. Please take a look at our response below and let me know if you have more questions.

I’m guessing that you’re basing your first question on survey results you’ve seen in the media that declare between 80 and 90 percent of Americans want mandatory GMO labeling. When handed claims like these, you should remember that survey results, in general, aren’t necessarily trustworthy, because the response you receive is often dictated by how the question is asked — whether the question is open-ended or contains leading words or statements. We talked about this issue more in-depth in this response, showing how questions about GMO labeling that are worded differently will get very different answers.

To answer your second question, unless you’re shopping at your local agriculture retailer, you may not realize this, but seed companies do label and promote their products to farmers, who are their direct customers. Unfortunately, for a long time, that was where the communication stopped, and we did not do a good job connecting with the consumer of the end product of those seeds — you. So while seed developers can’t label the products you buy at your grocery store, we are committed to helping you make informed decisions about your food purchases, even if they’re non-GMO. This is why we created GMO Answers — so that you can ask questions, conduct your own research and gather the information you need to make up your own mind.

Finally, while approximately 64 countries do have some type of mandatory labeling requirement, those laws are not uniform, contain many exemptions and are not always enforced. We address international labeling laws in this response, and in this answer we talk about which countries do and do not ban GMOs.

Expert response from jcohen1

Friday, 07/11/2014 16:00

You’ve raised some important questions and concerns that many people share with you. We’ve had the opportunity to address these questions in previous responses on GMO Answers. Please take a look at our response below and let me know if you have more questions.

I’m guessing that you’re basing your first question on survey results you’ve seen in the media that declare between 80 and 90 percent of Americans want mandatory GMO labeling. When handed claims like these, you should remember that survey results, in general, aren’t necessarily trustworthy, because the response you receive is often dictated by how the question is asked — whether the question is open-ended or contains leading words or statements. We talked about this issue more in-depth in this response, showing how questions about GMO labeling that are worded differently will get very different answers.

To answer your second question, unless you’re shopping at your local agriculture retailer, you may not realize this, but seed companies do label and promote their products to farmers, who are their direct customers. Unfortunately, for a long time, that was where the communication stopped, and we did not do a good job connecting with the consumer of the end product of those seeds — you. So while seed developers can’t label the products you buy at your grocery store, we are committed to helping you make informed decisions about your food purchases, even if they’re non-GMO. This is why we created GMO Answers — so that you can ask questions, conduct your own research and gather the information you need to make up your own mind.

Finally, while approximately 64 countries do have some type of mandatory labeling requirement, those laws are not uniform, contain many exemptions and are not always enforced. We address international labeling laws in this response, and in this answer we talk about which countries do and do not ban GMOs.

Expert response from jcohen1

Friday, 07/11/2014 16:00

You’ve raised some important questions and concerns that many people share with you. We’ve had the opportunity to address these questions in previous responses on GMO Answers. Please take a look at our response below and let me know if you have more questions.

I’m guessing that you’re basing your first question on survey results you’ve seen in the media that declare between 80 and 90 percent of Americans want mandatory GMO labeling. When handed claims like these, you should remember that survey results, in general, aren’t necessarily trustworthy, because the response you receive is often dictated by how the question is asked — whether the question is open-ended or contains leading words or statements. We talked about this issue more in-depth in this response, showing how questions about GMO labeling that are worded differently will get very different answers.

To answer your second question, unless you’re shopping at your local agriculture retailer, you may not realize this, but seed companies do label and promote their products to farmers, who are their direct customers. Unfortunately, for a long time, that was where the communication stopped, and we did not do a good job connecting with the consumer of the end product of those seeds — you. So while seed developers can’t label the products you buy at your grocery store, we are committed to helping you make informed decisions about your food purchases, even if they’re non-GMO. This is why we created GMO Answers — so that you can ask questions, conduct your own research and gather the information you need to make up your own mind.

Finally, while approximately 64 countries do have some type of mandatory labeling requirement, those laws are not uniform, contain many exemptions and are not always enforced. We address international labeling laws in this response, and in this answer we talk about which countries do and do not ban GMOs.