To avoid future costly state battles, agricultural corporations have said that they are open to a national labeling standard for products produced without genetically modified ingredients, but not for the kind of mandatory labeling that states are pushing for, writes Jayson Lusk, food and agriculture economist. A key issue in the mandatory-labeling debate is the potential cost to farmers and food manufacturers. Labeling advocates claim that consumers would ignore a GMO label and business would go on as usual. But agriculture companies are worried that food manufacturers– fearing consumer rejection of GMOs–will stop using GM crops, which would hurt farmers and raise food prices. Instead of spending money fighting labeling battles state-by-state, agricultural companies should be using that money to voluntarily label their products and to educate consumers about the benefits of biotechnology. One day, Lusk writes, “we may see food companies clamoring to voluntarily add a label that proclaims: proudly made with biotechnology.”
Read the full, original story here: People are willing to listen in the fight over GMOs
