Neil Young Starbucks - The well-known musician posted a statement where he alleges that Starbucks has teamed up with Monsanto to stop GMO labeling.
Apparently, according to Neil Young, Starbucks took part in a lawsuit against the state of Vermont, because the state requires labeling genetically modified ingredients in food.
Vermont already passed said law last spring and the deadline for the labeling of GMO food to occur is July 1, 2016, Rolling Stone noted.
There are a few exceptions to the labeling, though: dairy products, meat, alcohol and food served in restaurants.
Still, four food industry organizations went against this law and presented a lawsuit. Among the plaintiffs is the Grocery Manufacturers Association, which includes more than 300 members, two of them being Monsanto and Starbucks.
Due to this reason, Neil young reacted against Starbucks.
"Starbucks has teamed up with Monsanto to sue Vermont, and stop accurate food labeling. Tell Starbucks to withdraw support for the lawsuit - we have a right to know what we put in our mouths."
"Starbucks doesn't think you have the right to know what's on your coffee. So it's teamed up with Monsanto to sue the small U.S. state of Vermont to stop you from finding out," these are the first paragraphs of the statement.
He goes as further as stating that this isn't just about Vermont, but it's about Vermont being the first state to require the labeling and after it, all the other states would do it, too.
Neil Young wrote this on Nov. 9 and these past days Starbucks responded with another statement, People noted.
The company said that they were not part of any lawsuit whatsoever and they aren't funding any campaign either. They haven't teamed up with Monsanto and declare the claim as completely false.
Starbucks also cleared out that they didn't take any sort of position regarding the GMO labeling and due to them being such a large and "a product presence in every state," they prefer a national solution.