A group of Arizona lawmakers—two of them from the Tucson area—has introduced a bill that would force companies to label foods that have been entirely or partially genetically engineered.
From HB 2462 authored by State Reps. Victoria Steele, Juan Mendez, Ken Clark, Richard Andrade, Diego Espinoza and Rosanna Gabaldón:
If a food is required to be labeled pursuant to subsection A of this section, it shall be labeled as follows:
1. In the case of a packaged raw agricultural commodity, the manufacturer shall label the package offered for retail sale with the clear and conspicuous words, “Produced with genetic engineering.”
2. In the case of any raw agricultural commodity that is not separately packaged, the retailer shall post a label appearing on the retail store shelf or bin in which the commodity is displayed for sale with the clear and conspicuous words, “Produced with genetic engineering.”
3. In the case of any processed food that contains a product of genetic engineering, the manufacturer shall label the package in which the processed food is offered for sale with one of the following phrases:
(a) “PARTIALLY PRODUCED WITH GENETIC ENGINEERING”.
(b) “MAY BE PRODUCED WITH GENETIC ENGINEERING”.
(c) “PRODUCED WITH GENETIC ENGINEERING”.
Also, manufacturers wouldn’t be able to falsely advertise food products as “natural” or “naturally made,” if any ingredient was genetically engineered.
If these foods are not labeled, the retailer wouldn’t be punished. However, the manufacturer would be liable for a civil penalty of “no more than $1000 per day per product.” They could also be prosecuted by the state’s attorney general or dealt with “in a private manner.”
State groups, such as GMO Free Arizona, have been pushing for a measure like this one. A similar bill, SB 1180, was brought forward in 2013 by state Sen. Ed Ableser. That bill didn’t make it out of the committee it was assigned to.
We’ll see if this one gets a hearing and moves through the pipes.
This article appears in Jan 15-21, 2015.
Maria,
Another bad, very bad idea. Our politicians take on enough stupid stuff as it is. The only hearing one this should get is a hearty “good by” and the only pipeline it should move through is the sewer line.
Unless and until you are acquainted in the reality of GMO’s it may appear this type of HB is silly, or “stupid stuff;” however, it is imperative that labeling of GMO’s become required practice in order to protect one another from health compromise. Please consider reading the information and legal case rulings to learn the reality we are being faced with, as the information is enlightenly!
You can’t possibly know how terrible GMO’s are for you until it affect you or your children directly. GMO has affected ME directly and has for the last 11 years. Why is Monsanto so against putting their name on the label? What are they hiding? Why don’t they want private testing?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUd9rRSLY4A