GE Foods Tutorial

Why labeling?

With so many health, environmental and ethical considerations surrounding genetically engineered foods, it seems only prudent to encourage labeling as a means of helping consumers to make informed choices. The Campaign strongly supports your right to know whether the foods you are eating have been genetically mutated.

Labeling efforts already are under way in European nations, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. If these countries offer their citizens labeling protection, shouldn't the United States be doing at least as much?

There are many compelling reasons why genetically engineered foods should be labeled:

Labeling will foster consumer awareness of genetically engineered foods.
The businesses behind bioengineering have rapidly infiltrated the supermarkets with genetically engineered products; today, an estimated two-thirds of products on supermarket shelves contain GE ingredients. But so far, a majority of Americans aren't even aware that most of the foods they are consuming are genetically engineered.

The bioengineering companies have flourished under this secrecy. Only one-third of Americans are aware that their foods contain GE ingredients. The giant agribusinesses have taken over our food supply without us knowing about it.

Labeling will substantially increase public awareness of genetic engineering and will promote a healthy public debate over the benefits and problems of genetically engineered foods.

Labeling will bring issues out into the open, and put pressure on agribusinesses to make a more compelling case for genetic engineering.
Agribusinesses have brought GE foods to the market very quietly, and fear that labeling will harm sales; polls show that a majority of Americans would prefer not to eat GE foods. Labeling would put the onus on agribusinesses to demonstrate that their products are safe--something they have yet to accomplish.

As the British journal The Economist puts it, "if Monsanto cannot persuade us it certainly has no right to foist its products on us."

Labeling will protect people who have allergies.
Millions of Americans have allergies to certain foods. Genetic engineering may increase the risk that they will accidentally consume foods that contain allergens. If genes of a particular kind of nut are inserted in a vegetable, for example, a consumer who is allergic to that nut may be at risk.

Without labeling, consumers will have no way of protecting themselves from hidden allergens.

Labeling will assist people who have religious or ethical problems with GE foods.
Vegetarians, for example, may not want to eat tomatoes that have been engineered to include flounder genes. But without labeling, they will have no way of knowing if they are eating hidden animal products.

Labeling will give people the option of whether or not to support the genetic engineering industry.
Due to all of the health, environmental and ethical questions revolving around GE foods, many people would prefer not to support the genetic engineering industry. So far, the only options they have are to buy all organic foods or grow their own food.

The government already supports labeling of certain foods for a wide range of reasons.
There is a long history of labeling foods in the United States. The government requires wines to labeled if they contain sulfites. Food labels must contain fat and caloric content, even though huge numbers of Americans are not overweight. Food labels must reveal the source of hydrolyzed proteins to accommodate vegetarians.

To put it into perspective, the government requires labeling when orange juices are "made from concentrate." Shouldn't it also require labeling when the genetic structure of the food has been changed?

The public strongly supports labeling of genetically engineered foods.
A 1999 Time magazine survey revealed that 81 percent of those surveyed say that genetically engineered food should be labeled. A 1998 poll taken for the Toronto Star newspaper found that 98 percent of Canadians favor labeling. In 1997, Novartis, the giant genetic engineering company, released its own survey that showed that 93 percent of Americans want bioengineered food to be labeled.

A December, 2000 survey by Oxygen/Markle Pulse found that only 50 percent of women would knowingly purchase genetically engineered foods, and 85 percent of Americans support labeling. In February, 2001, the FDA released an internal report that showed that "virtually all participants" surveyed in focus groups want labeling.

In June, 2001, ABC News found that 93 percent of Americans support labeling.

Isn't it about time to give the people what they want?

Labeling may help the U.S. avoid a trade war with the European Union.
European consumers have loudly indicated that they don't want to eat genetically engineered foods. The European Union has refused to import genetically engineered foods from the United States. Labeling will help keep us in good graces with our European trading partners.

Please take a moment to send letters to your senators, congressmen and other government officials requesting that they support labeling efforts. We've made it easy for you: just visit our form letters section where you can download a number of ready-to-send letters to your leaders.

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