Biotech Food Companies Required to Label Products?
The California committee for the Right to Know Initiative recently announced that it had met the required number of signatures needed for the initiative to be included in the November 2012 ballot. If approved, it will require biotech food companies to label their products as such. This is however somewhat controversial, as agricultural biotech companies consider the additional labeling unnecessary.
Biotech food companies argue that many of these same foods have been consumed safely for years. Thus, it will be an unnecessary added expense both for growers and consumers. An example of foods which would require a label under this new system demonstrates the issue more clearly. If this proposed labeling system were to be implemented, a genetically modified apple would not require a label, while apple sauce made of genetically modified apples would.
Agricultural biotech company advocates also point to statistics which indicate that consumers are not dissatisfied with current food labels. In fact in a recent survey conducted by the International Food Information Council (IFIC) aimed at determining consumer opinion, 66% of respondents stated that they did not feel there is a need for additional information on food labels. Of the 24% who said that they did want more information, only 3% wanted biotech information specifically.
Proponents of adding labels on the other hand are concerned with potentially harmful effects of producing and consuming biotech foods. These groups argue that we may be causing changes in nature which may ultimately be detrimental to our environment and/or our health. On the one hand, by selecting for specific characteristics such as pest-resistant crops we are able to provide more food for the world’s population. However, in our attempt to control and improve agricultural production we may also be offsetting nature’s balance. Additional labels on biotech foods most probably will not end this controversy.
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