Colorado voters overwhelmingly defeated Proposition 105 this week by a more than two-to-one margin.
The labeling proposal would have mandated a food labeling system for Colorado that currently does not exist in any other state. A broad coalition of Colorado farmers, ranchers, businesses, taxpayers and consumers joined together from across the state to oppose the measure.
“This is a clear victory for Colorado consumers, taxpayers and family farmers,” said Don Shawcroft, president of the Colorado Farm Bureau and chairman of the No on 105 Coalition. “This measure would have unfairly burdened Colorado farmers with costly regulations, provided Colorado consumers with misleading information on food labels and increased grocery costs for Colorado families.”
Proposition 105 was opposed by a broad coalition of groups representing more than 60,000 Colorado family farmers, businesses, food producers, taxpayers and consumers, as well as by every major newspaper in Colorado, both gubernatorial candidates and four current and former Commissioners of Agriculture for the state of Colorado, according to the No on 105 Coalition. Former Commissioner of the Colorado Department of Agriculture Don Ament appeared in TV ads opposing the measure, as did current Commissioner of Agriculture John Salazar, along with Shawcroft and other family farmers and ranchers from across the state.
Numerous studies, including an October 2014 study released by Colorado State University, estimated that the type of labeling proposed by Proposition 105 would have increased grocery costs for Colorado families by hundreds of dollars per year.
The Colorado Farm Bureau, the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce, Colorado BioScience Association and dozens of others all signed on to oppose the proposal.
