Major food companies across America are launching a last ditch effort in congress to have mandatory GMO labelling scrapped before the year ends.
According to The Associated Press (via Yahoo), the food industry is pushing to make the labelling a voluntary process and is trying to get the legislation passed in a spending bill that lawmakers from both the Republican and Democratic parties are trying to finalize before the holidays.
If this proposal were to become law, companies would not be required to disclose whether their products have been genetically modified.
"It is imperative that Congress take action now to prevent a costly and confusing patchwork of state labeling laws from taking effect next year and spreading across the country," reads a letter crafted by food industry members intended for House and Senate leaders.
According to the report, the United States Food and Drug Administration is not in favor of mandatory labeling, saying that all GMOs currently on the market are safe.
The timing of the food industry's pushing of the issue has been put into question by many.
Jason Best of Take Part says that big food companies are banking on the rush of Christmas season to help move this proposal to congress.
"There's no doubt about it: The food industry is counting on you to be distracted at this busy time of year, what with all those visions of sugarplums, etc., as it tries to make a stealth end run to quash any effort to require the labeling of foods that contain genetically modified ingredients." He writes.
Surveys have shown that an overwhelming number of Americans are in favor of mandatory labelling. A recent study published by The Mellman Group shows that 9 out of 10 people want GMOs to be labelled.
