(Editor’s note: Recent articles in Consumerist, The Atlantic and Science have more information on this issue.)
To the editor:
Recently Congress rushed through and President Obama signed bill S.764 into law. This new law has been called by some the “Deny Americans the Right to Know” (DARK) Act because it makes it nearly impossible for you and me to know whether GMOs [genetically modified organisms] are in the food we buy.
The DARK Act does not require most processed foods to have a label, defines genetic engineering so narrowly that most GMOs on the market don’t qualify, and gives the USDA two more years to come up with even more loopholes to labeling. The DARK Act does not provide clear nationwide GMO labeling standards similar to those in Vermont’s carefully written, very popular law (now moot). The DARK Act also does not assure the American public that they are not test subjects for GMO products. The DARK Act does not require companies to prove their GMO products are safe before they expose consumers and our natural ecosystems to their products.
Jill Stein’s website clearly states: “Label GMOs, and put a moratorium on GMOs and pesticides until they are proven safe. Protect the rights of future generations.” I do not know where Hillary Clinton stands on labeling GMOs.
Sincerely,
Jean Palmer
Tower Road
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