GMO is a pretty important food-related buzzword these days. It’s right up there with gluten, vegan, and locavore. Citizens across the world have been fighting GMOs vehemently, and a huge part of that fight has been to require standardized labeling on all food products that contain any trace amount of a genetically modified ingredient.
Last Thursday, the U.S. Senate passed a bill that grants a two-year window for the Agriculture Department to set up a system to label our food according to GMO inclusion. There are a few caveats to the bill and how and which foods will be labeled. For instance, some foods will not be labeled as a GMO food if one of their highly processed ingredients contains a GMO. According to the FDA, “after processing, such ingredients contain no genetic material that would identify them as coming from a genetically engineered source.” This applies especially to highly-refined oils like Canola or sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup.
Another loophole in the bill concerns how the items will be labeled so we, the consumers, know if the product comes from a GMO source. Manufacturers will be given a choice between adding “text to a label stating that it contains genetically engineered ingredients; put a symbol (yet to be determined) on packaging to denote such ingredients; or use a ‘digital link’ like a quick response, or Q.R., code that consumers can scan with their smartphones.”
The addition of the Q.R. Codes has caused an outrage amongst the GMO labeling lobby who view it as a cop-out on the Senate’s behalf. Gary Hirshberg of the Just Label It campaign put it bluntly, “It’s just another way of keeping citizens in the dark — every 13-year-old knows Q.R. codes are dead.” Sick burn, Gare. Hirshberg isn’t too far off. Most reports put Q.R. code usage at around or under 20 percent of all smartphone users.
President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law in the coming days. Whether GMOs are an evil blight like locusts raining down from a vengeful Yahweh, or a scientific blessing saving lives and bringing people out of hunger and poverty worldwide rages on — labeled or not.
(Via Grub Street)
