A national, mandatory GM-food label that is being pushed by anti-GMO activists is said to be about “the right to know,” but the movement’s goals are really “to stigmatize GM foods and thereby increase organic food sales and profits,” and “to transfer the substantial costs of labeling to tax payers,” writes Andrew Staehelin, professor emeritus of the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at University of Colorado-Boulder.
This kind of label would be enormously difficult to implement, considering it would involve tracking and segregating all food products from all farms—big and small—all grain elevators, all food processors, all food producers—including bakeries and candy makers—and all food distributors and sellers. What makes this even more difficult is that 90% of all corn, sugar beats and soy are genetically modified, and more to be added in the future. This would also mean tracking corn oil, corn starch, corn syrup, soybean oil, soybean lecithin and corn-fed animals.
“Imagine the number of inspectors, laboratory testers, lawyers, administrators and enforcement officers needed to run a national GM-food labeling program,” Staehelin writes. If someone wants to avoid GMOs, he can look for ‘organic’ or ‘Non-GMO Project’ labels.
Read the full, original story: Mandatory GMO food labeling — a subsidy for the organic food industry
