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Blacklisted News: Lies GMO Labeling Opponents Are Pushing to Keep People in the Dark
Aug 25, 2013 | By Zack Kaldveer, AlterNet
Like bad robots, they’re spitting out the same old, tired lies,
designed to scare voters into voting against their own best interests.
Here's the truth behind their lies.
It’s déjà vu. Last year a coalition of out-of-state, multinational
biotech, pesticide and junk food corporations spent nearly $46 million
to narrowly defeat Proposition 37, California’s GMO labeling initiative.
Now, the same who’s who of the world’s most notorious global
corporate bad actors has descended on Washington State. Why? To try to
stop Washington State voters from passing I-522,
a citizens’ initiative that, if passed, will require mandatory labeling
of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in all food products sold in
Washington.
Like bad robots, they’re spitting out the same old, tired lies,
designed to scare voters into voting against their own best interests.
Here are the lies. And the facts. Please read, print, email, roll up
and stuff into a bottle you launch into the sea . . . whatever it takes
to spread the word that while $46 million may buy a lot of lies, it
doesn’t change the facts.
1. Lie: Labeling genetically engineered foods (GMOs) will cost taxpayers millions of dollars a year.
Truth: Empirical studies have
concluded labeling would lead to no increases in prices. Since the
European Union labeled GMOs in the 1990’s, there has been "no resulting increase in grocery costs."
Trader Joe’s, Clif Bar & Co. and Washington’s own PCC Natural Markets all label their non-GMO product lines at no additional cost to consumers.
2. Lie: I-522 is full of arbitrary special interest exemptions that will just confuse consumers.
Truth: I-522 requires labeling for the GE foods that
are most prevalent in the American diet – food on supermarket shelves.
I-522’s exemptions are easy to explain and guided by common sense and
the law:
Restaurants – Restaurants and bake sales are not
required to list the ingredients in their products. Requiring labeling
for GMOs would have required tracking all the ingredients in restaurant
meals, and since no other laws require that, it didn't make sense for
this one to.
Meat, cheese, dairy and eggs from animals - These
will be labeled if they come from genetically engineered animals.
However, they are exempt if the animals ate genetically engineered feed
but are not themselves genetically engineered. This exemption is common
all around the world. It didn't make sense for Washington’s law to be
stricter than international standards.
Alcohol – Alcohol labeling is regulated under
different laws than food at both the federal and state levels. Because
of the single-subject law that requires initiatives to apply to only one
subject, alcohol couldn’t be included.
3. Lie: Consumers don’t need labels to avoid GMOs. All they need to do is buy certified organic products.
Truth:Food companies routinely and intentionally
mislead consumers by labeling products “natural” in order to attract
health-conscious consumers. Because the U.S. Food & Drug
Administration (FDA) does not prohibit the use of the word “natural” on
products containing GMOs, most consumers are fooled by this label.
According to a recent poll by
the Hartman group, 61 percent of respondents erroneously believed that
the use of the word “natural” implies or suggests the absence of GMOs,
versus 63 percent who correctly believed that the label "organic" means
that a product is GMO-free. Food companies should be required, as they
are in some 60 other countries, to clearly state that a product contains
GMOs. If companies truly believe their GMO ingredients are perfectly
safe, why spend millions to keep from having to label them?
4. Lie: Washington will be the only state in the nation to
label GMOs, unfairly hurting farmers and the state’s multi-billion
agricultural industry.
Truth: Washington won’t be the only state labeling
GE foods. Connecticut, Maine and Alaska have passed labeling laws and
dozens of other states are considering identical proposals. Besides, 64
countries already require labeling, so many farmers are already used to
labeling for exports. In fact, many Washington farmers support labeling
because they believe that growing GMO crops destroys healthy soil, and
because they sell crops to overseas markets that either require labels
on GMO crops, or have banned them completely. These countries are
increasingly concerned about U.S. non-GMO crops, such as wheat, that
could potentially be contaminated by cross-pollination with GMO crops.
5. Lie: I-522 encourages shakedown lawsuits by giving trial
lawyers an unprecedented new right to sue farmers, food producers and
store owners over the wording on food labels.
Truth: I-522 offers no economic incentives for
lawyers to sue. Consumers can't file a class action suit against food
producers without first giving the food producer a warning and the
opportunity to comply with the law. As long as the defendant fixes the
labels, then no class action is permitted. Once the class action option
is off the table, a consumer could sue only to get a court order to
require labeling, and only for the few dollars that consumer paid to buy
the product. Where’s the incentive?
If the state brings a court action to enforce the new law, any
penalties recovered by the state go only to the state - not the
plaintiff or the lawyer. Food companies are required by law to label for
ingredients, calories, etc., and there have been few violations. Why
wouldn’t companies accurately label genetically engineered foods, too?
For the real story about abusive lawsuits by rapacious trial lawyers, check out what Monsanto is up to: suing farmers across the country for growing their own seeds.
6. Lie: Labeling GMOs creates a bureaucratic
nightmare for grocers and retailers and requires the state government
to monitor labels on thousands of food products in thousands of stores,
costing taxpayers millions.
Truth:Under I-522, the person responsible for
labeling processed foods is the person who puts the label on: the
manufacturer. Retailers would only have to label the few raw commodities
(sweet corn, papaya, squash) that are genetically engineered. They can
either stick a simple label on the bin or, if they wish, they can ask
their supplier for a sworn statement that the crop is not genetically
engineered.
I-522 requires no costly testing for GE ingredients. No burdensome government oversight is necessary. The system is inherently designed to
protect small grocers and retailers while providing consumers with the
right to know what’s in their food without increasing grocery costs.
7. Lie: GE foods pose no health safety risks.
Truth: GMOs have never been proven safe. The FDA requires no pre-market health safety studies, and the only long term peer-reviewed animal study conducted
involving GMO corn sprayed with Monsanto’s Round Up herbicide, found
massive tumors, organ failure and premature death in rats. In addition, a
growing body of peer-reviewed animal studies have
linked these foods to allergies, organ toxicity, diabetes, cancer,
autoimmune disorders, birth defects, high infant mortality rates,
fertility problems, and sterility. Clearly, more independent, long term
studies are warranted. Until GMOs are proven unequivocally safe, they
should be labeled so consumers can avoid them if they choose.
8. Lie: GE foods are as, or more, nutritious than organic foods.
Truth: Organic foods, especially raw or
non-processed, contain higher levels of beta carotene, vitamins C, D and
E, health-promoting polyphenols, cancer-fighting antioxidants,
flavonoids that help ward off heart disease, essential fatty acids, and
essential minerals. On average, organic is 25 percent more nutritious in
terms of vitamins and minerals than products derived from industrial
agriculture. Levels of antioxidants in milk from organic cattle are
between 50 percent and 80 percent higher than normal milk. Organic
wheat, tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage, onions and lettuce have between 20
percent and 40 percent more nutrients than non-organic foods
A report
released from the non-GMO corn company De Dell, in Canada found GMO
corn has 14 parts-per-million (ppm) of calcium while non-GMO corn has
6130 ppm, or 437 times more. According to the report, non-GMO corn also
has 56 times more magnesium and seven times more manganese than GMO
corn.
9. Lie: The World Health Organization,
American Medical Association, National Academy of Sciences and other
respected medical and health organizations all conclude that GE foods
are safe.
Truth: The United Nations/World Health Organization food standards group and the American Medical Association have called for
mandatory pre-market safety testing of genetically engineered foods, a
standard the U.S. fails to meet. A National Academy of Sciences report states
that products of genetic engineering technology “carry the potential
for introducing unintended compositional changes that may have adverse
effects on human health.” Numerous public health and medical groups
support the labeling of GE foods, including the American Public Health
Association, Washington State Nurses Association, Breast Cancer Action,
Allergy Kids Foundation, Autism One, and many others.
10. Lie: We need GMOs to feed the world.
Truth: Studies have proven that GE crops do not lead
to greater crop yields. In fact, just the opposite is true. A 2009
study by the Union of Concerned Scientists found
GMO crops fail to produce higher yields. And a recently released,
peer-reviewed study published in the International Journal of
Agricultural Sustainability found that conventional plant breeding, not genetic engineering, is responsible for yield increases in major U.S. crops.
11. Lie: The creation of GE seeds is comparable to the
cross-breeding that our ancestors did to create hardier versions of
heritage crops.
Truth: Cross breeding is the product of guided
natural reproduction, while GMOs are created in a laboratory using
high-tech and sophisticated techniques. One of these techniques involves
gene-splicing which is used to cross a virus or a bacteria with a
plant. These untested, unnatural creations are the antithesis to what
our ancestors did, and what responsible farmers do: cross-pollinate
different varieties of the same plant to help naturally bring forth
desirable characteristics.
12. Lie: GE crops reduce the need for pesticides and herbicides.
Truth: GE crops have dramatically increased the use of herbicides and pesticides. According to a new studyby
Food and Water Watch, the “total volume of glyphosate applied to the
three biggest GE crops — corn, cotton and soybeans — increased 10-fold
from 15 million pounds in 1996 to 159 million pounds in 2012” with the
overall pesticide use rising by 26 percent from 2001 to 2010.
The report follows another such study by Washington
State University research professor Charles Benbrook last year that
found that overall pesticide use increased by 404 million pounds, or
about 7%, from 1996 and 2011. The use of GE crops are now driving up the
volume of toxic herbicides needed each year by about 25 percent.
13. Lie: GE crops aren’t harmful to the environment.
Truth: Besides polluting the environment with herbicides and pesticides, GE crops are leading to biodiversity loss and the emergence of “super bugs” and “super weeds" that are threatening millions of acres of farmland, requiring the need for even more dangerous and toxic herbicides.
GE crops, and the toxic pesticides they are designed to withstand, are endangering numerous critical species, including the honey bee, frogs, birds, fish and the Monarch Butterfly.
And don’t forget our air and water. The island of Molokai
in Hawaii has had its air and water quality destroyed by Monsanto’s
almost-2000-acre test facility. The same is true worldwide, with many
areas around GMO farms reporting horrific bloody skin rashes, an uptick
in asthma and toxic pesticides that leach into the groundwater.