The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act by a vote to 275 to 150. The bill, which still must be passed by the Senate before it becomes law, establishes a federal labeling standard for foods with genetically modified organisms (GMOs), giving sole authority to the Food and Drug Administration to require mandatory labeling on such foods if they are ever found to be unsafe or materially different from foods produced without GM ingredients.
The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) is applauding the bill’s passage, “Today’s bipartisan passage of the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act clearly demonstrates the growing support for this critically important legislation,” said Pamela G. Bailey, president and CEO of GMA. “We thank the sponsors of this bill, Congressmen Mike Pompeo (R-Kansas) and G.K. Butterfield (D-North Carolina), along with Congressmen Mike Conaway (R-Texas), Collin Peterson (D-Minnesota), Fred Upton (R-Michigan) and the other members who supported it for standing on the side of consumer choice, science and fact-based labeling. We now call on the U.S. Senate to move quickly on a companion bill and pass it this year.”
GMA says that House Resolution 1599 protects the consumer from a costly and confusing 50-state patchwork of labeling laws by ensuring that the federal government retains its authority at the top of America’s food safety pyramid. It would also create a single, unified standard for food to be labeled as “GMO free” as part of a USDA program modeled after the popular USDA Organics program, according to the bill’s proponents.
“A federal approach to food labeling remains the only way to ensure that Americans everywhere can access accurate information about the food they purchase,” added Bailey. “HR 1599 is fact-based, common sense legislation that will provide the kind of clarity and consistency in the marketplace for food labels that American consumers deserve.”
The Snack Food Association (SFA) also commended the House passage of the bill.
“Absent a federal GMO solution, manufacturers will have essentially three options in order to comply with state labeling laws—redesign packaging, reformulate products or halt sales to that state,” said SFA CEO Tom Dempsey. “Each option is difficult, costly, time-intensive and, at worst, could eliminate jobs and consumer choice in the marketplace.”
Dempsey says SFA has worked closely with the Coalition for Safe Affordable Food to build support for the legislation.
Opponents of the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act, however, have dubbed the bill the “DARK Act” (Deny Americans the Right to Know). They say the bill does not allow for mandatory GMO labeling and preempts state GMO labeling initiatives, such as the one that is slated to take effect in Vermont next year.
