Federal GMO labeling could cost $3 billion—more than government spends annually on food safety

Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue … is rolling out the new rules for labeling genetically engineered foods. The National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard (NBFDS) as adopted by Congress requires food manufacturers to label food for retail sales to include information about bioengineered (BE) food and food ingredients.

According to a 114-page economic analysis, additional costs for the initial year of labeling is going to cost the food industry and ultimately consumers $600 million to $3.5 billion. That is potentially more than both USDA and FDA spend annually on food safety. The ongoing costs, though, would be less at $114 million to $225 million each year.

The USDA’s economic analysis says the value of the new federal law is the fact that it eliminates the “costly inefficiencies arising from a state-level approach to BE disclosure.”

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“The proposed rule is intended to provide for disclosure of foods that are or may be bioengineered in the interest of consumers but also seeks to minimize implementation and compliance costs for the food industry — costs that could be passed on to consumers,” says the disclosure statement.

Read full, original post: ‘BE’ label launch may cost more than feds yearly spend on food safety