* * * Action Alert - Petition to Obama for MEANINGFUL GMO labeling* President Obama promised that genetically modified foods will require labels. Please sign the petition <http://www.responsibletechnology.org/utility/showPage/index.cfm?objectID=gmfree,5277> demanding comprehensive and meaningful GMO labeling; and thank him for giving us what we want, /and deserve/. *************************************************** President Obama is finally going to get genetically modified (GM) foods labeled—something 270 million Americans have wanted for a long time. The Bush, Clinton, and Bush I administrations denied it to us, ignoring 9 out of 10 citizens in order to support the economic interests of the 5 Ag biotech companies that make GMOs. Former FDA man Henry Miller admitted, “In this area, the US government agencies have done exactly what big agribusiness has asked them to do and told them to do.” Why don’t the biotech companies want us to know that their products are in our food? Because we wouldn’t eat them. According to a /CBS/New York Times/ poll, most of us (53%) would avoid brands with genetically modified organisms (GMOs). *Close labeling loopholes* Outside the US and Canada, nearly all industrialized countries require GMOs to be labeled. But clear, comprehensive, and consumer-friendly criteria remain elusive. Japan’s laws allow food with a whopping 5% GMO contamination to go unlabeled. In Australia and New Zealand, loopholes exempt about 90% of their GM foods from labeling. Their law says that GM ingredients must be detectable in the final processed food in order to require labels. Thus, oil made from 100% GM soybeans, corn, cottonseed or canola (the four major GM crops) is unlabeled. These loose labeling regimes have consistently angered citizens and there is momentum for tightening standards. In the EU, for example, they used to exempt undetectable GMOs but now insist on labels if any ingredient is /DERIVED BY/ GMOs. Thus, they require traceability of ingredients to their GMO or Non-GMO origins. The EU has another loophole that upsets citizens there (which we must avoid here in the US). Milk, meat, and eggs from animals /fed/ GMOs don’t have to be labeled. Many groups are working hard to change this EU law. In the meantime several European food companies publicly committed not to use GMO animal feed. In the US, corporations have traditionally had the upper hand when it comes to negotiating details of regulations. We don’t want that to happen with labeling. President Obama is going to give us labeling—he promised us that. But will it be the citizens’ labeling plan or Monsanto’s? Sign the petition <http://www.responsibletechnology.org/utility/showPage/index.cfm?objectID=gmfree,5277> today demanding comprehensive and meaningful GMO labeling, and thank President Obama for giving us what we want, /and deserve/. But don’t wait for labeling to avoid GMOs. Download our Non-GMO Shopping Guide <http://www.seedsofdeception.com/utility/showDocumentFile?objectID=144>, which gives tips and brands to help you choose healthier non-GMO food. Healthy Eating! Jeffrey M.Smith Executive Director www.responsibletechnology.org <http://www.responsibletechnology.org/> Author, /Genetic Roulette/ and /Seeds of Deception/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- "I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves." – Che Guevara
