Just Label It: Coalition Group Petitions FDA to Label Genetically Modified Foods

A legal petition was filed with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by the grass roots campaign, Just Label It! We Have a Right to Know. The petition calls for products “that use ingredients produced with genetic engineering disclose this information on the label.” The campaign was started for the purpose of advocating "for the labeling of GE foods.” 

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs), also referred to as genetically engineered (GE) foods, are foods that have been altered at a molecular level that would not have occurred naturally. GMOs or GE crops promise to increase yeild, be drought intolerant, resist weed and pest killers, along with providing a host of other "benefits."

Beginning in the early 1990’s, the United States has allowed foods with GMO ingredients to be sold without being labeled. Since then, three generations of genetically modified crops have been modified to resist herbicides and insects through the addition of pesticide genes directly into the seeds. Other crops have been modified to resist drought and cold, while others contain edible vaccines. Farm animals, in some cases, have been modified with growth hormones to increase their size. For an example of a GE food, read this New York Times article on genetically engineered salmon that is currently under review by the FDA.

Over the years, concerns have been raised on the ultimate safety of these foods. Business Week has an online debate article from 2007 on the pros and cons of GMOs that can be read here for some additional opinions on the topic.

There are hundreds of partner organizations that are part of the coalition, including members of the healthcare community, businesses, farmers and consumers that are concerned with protecting the right to know what is in our food.

The CT Chapter of the Northeast Organic Farming Organization is one of 300 members of the coalition. CT NOFA is a "community of farmers, gardeners, land care professionals and consumers that encourages a healthy relationship to the natural world." Local members of the CT NOFA include CT Farm Fresh Express, LLC  of East Haddam, Country Flower Farms of Middlefield and Gardens & Turf of East Haddam.

For additional information on CT NOFA, visit their website. For information on the Just Label It! campaign or to sign the petition, click here.

To read a USA Today article on the petition, click here.