Click here and join us for a segment where Andrew and Jerry discuss GMO labeling on Episode #106 of the LangerCast:

LangerCast on the RELM network: Roberts-Stabenow

Jerry and Andrew discuss S-764, or the Roberts-Stabenow bill, creating a national labeling standard that will protect consumers, advance conservative principle, and support sound science.

The National Academies of Science, in a 400-page report on GMOs released in May 2016, concluded that there is “no substantiated evidence that foods from GE [genetically engineered] crops were less safe than foods from non-GE crops.”

To date, more than 50 bills have been introduced in dozens of states to require the labeling of genetically modified foods, or GMOs. Vermont’s law took effect on July 1. If Congress fails to act, Vermont and the myriad others following suit will upend the nation’s entire food system, from farming to supply to retail.

Academic and scientific studies over the past 30 years – by such groups as the World Health Organization, the Food and Drug Administration, and the National Academies of Science – have said, unequivocally, that GM foods are safe and healthy. Studies have concluded that GMOs are as safe as, or safer than, conventional or organic foods.

GMOs now make up a major part of the American diet: 60-70 percent of all food on supermarket shelves is GMO. So the issue of labeling needs to be addressed in a manner that defers to sound science. An alternative to the state-based food police is a national standard. If the Anti-GMO activists were truly interested in science and consumer safety, they would aggressively support this approach.

A patchwork of state labeling requirements would create mass confusion among consumers and cause food prices to skyrocket.  GMOs are among the most analyzed subjects in science. With over 2,000 global studies affirming safety, the science over GM foods is unquestionably settled. The world’s most prestigious science, health, and academic institutions have confirmed and re-confirmed over again that GMO science does not pose a risk to our health, and GM foods are as safe and/or safer than conventional or organic foods. In an overview of the last 10 years of genetically engineered crop safety research, scientists could not find a single instance where GMO food posed any harm to humans or animals. GMOs are safe and healthy, period.

Capitol Allies (CapAllies) applauds Sens. Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) for the bipartisan agreement on a national GMO labeling standard. The Senate must still give final approval to the new agreement, and then it will need to be passed by the House of Representatives before going to the President.

The Senate could vote as early as this evening.