Why did Monsanto employ lobbyists to implement HR 1599 to make it illegal for any state to require a food manufacturer to disclose whether their food has been genetically modified or not? Why would you want to keep us in the dark about what we eat?

Expert response from Chelsey Robinson

Former Global Preparedness Content Manager, Monsanto Company

Monday, 29/02/2016 19:27

Monsanto is one of many food and agricultural members of the Coalition for Safe and Affordable Food, and we all agree we need a national approach to food labeling based on health, safety and nutrition. A state-by-state approach to food labeling is confusing to consumers, and it is impractical, if not impossible, for food companies to have different labels for every state. A state mandatory labeling law may sound like it’s as simple as putting “contains GMOs” on the label, but many people don’t know that of the few states that have passed these mandatory labeling laws, the states each define “what is a GMO” a different way.  Each state exempts different kinds of products from labeling requirements.  And the states have varying standards for the threshold of what percentage of GM crops in a product determines whether or not it would be required to carry a label.  This creates a difficult standard for food companies to meet and doesn’t provide for any meaningful consumer knowledge about what’s in a food product or how it was made.

We have heard consumers loud and clear- and we do not want to keep anyone in the dark. The fact is, we want to ensure labels are clear and based on the science. Consumers want to know more about their food and how it’s made… not only information about GMOs but on all kinds of issues like sustainability, sourcing and more.  Transparency on all of these things is valuable. That is why we have always been supportive of a voluntary labeling.  In order to keep information up to date and provide information on what is most relevant to consumers and their changing desires, the SmartLabel^TM or a similar electronic approach can provide consumers with more of the information they want to know and quickly change or add additional information as is needed.