INDUSTRY DIRECTORY

GM FOOD LABELING IN CALIF. DEFEATED

Published online: Nov 16, 2012 Potato Harvesting, Herbicide, Fertilizer, Insecticide, Fungicide, Seed Potatoes, Potato Equipment
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California voters have decided they can live without labels on genetically modified food, a decision that means the state will not be at odds with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)'s policy of not labeling GM foods, which goes back more than two decades.

By a vote of 53 to 47 percent, the Golden State voted "No" on Proposition 37.

The vote was a stunning reversal for an initiative that easily started out with better than two-to-one support in California. One national pollster last March found that nine out of ten Americans supported labeling GE foods.

But after what rates as a fully engaged campaign for California, Prop. 37 saw that support evaporate under the pressure of a paid campaign by opponents and the "Yes" campaign's failure to write and explain the law they wanted voters to pass.

Prop. 37 was a big-bucks California initiative with funding that totaled $54.5 million. The "No" campaign had the most to spend, with $45.6 million, but the "Yes" side was not without financial resources, coming in with $8.9 million.

SOURCE: Dan Flynn, Food Safety News

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2012/11/big-setback-for-right-to-know-about-gm-foods-prop-37-goes-down-in-crushing-defeat/