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Know what’s in your food

Posted on September 22, 2012 by Sonoma Valley Sun

Guest Opinion by Karen Hudson

This November, we have the chance to make history with an issue that affects us all: our right to know what’s in our food.

Many food products currently sold in California supermarkets contain genetically engineered ingredients that are concealed from consumers. Proposition 37 will give us that information. It requires companies to add a few words to labels if their food has been genetically modified. Also called GMOs, these plant and animal products have been altered in a lab to combine DNA from one species with another to create combinations that don’t occur naturally.

This is a David versus Goliath fight. On one side are Monsanto, the big chemical companies and the processed food manufacturers that don’t want us to know if our food is genetically engineered. On the other is a huge people’s movement joined by the state’s leading environmental, farmer, health care, political and labor groups demanding to know what’s in the food we eat.

The US Food and Drug Administration does not require safety studies, and no long-term health studies have been conducted to determine if these foods are safe. Preliminary studies link genetically engineered foods to allergies and other health risks.

Prop 37 isn’t a ban on GMOs as the opposition will have you believe; it’s a simple label. It’s simply saying: let’s give consumers information so we can choose for ourselves whether or not we want to eat genetically engineered foods. Consumers in 50 other countries — including all of Europe, Japan, China and Russia — already have this right, and we deserve to have it, too.

This week, opponents of our right to know began airing deceptive ads trying to convince us that labeling is too costly, scary or confusing. They’ll tell you that costs will go up for consumers. Untrue. The measure simply requires adding a few words to existing labels and companies have 18 months to make the change.

They’ll warn you of “headhunter lawsuits.” But there are no incentives in Prop 37 for lawyers to sue. There is no reason to believe companies will violate the law.

They’ll claim that all processed foods cannot be marketed as natural. The initiative only requires genetically engineered foods to be labeled. It prohibits them from being marketed as natural because they are not natural; they were made in a lab.

These corporations used these same tactics when they were forced to tell consumers about calories, fat content, and other information we use every day to choose our food.

It’s a simple label. We have a right to know what’s in our food, so we are free to make informed choices about what we eat. Let’s exercise that freedom.

Karen Hudson is the Sonoma County coordinator for the Vote Yes On Proposition #37 campaign.




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