A divided U.S. Senate Wednesday could not invoke cloture to bring the Biotechnology Labeling Solutions Bill to vote. The cloture vote, which required 60 for passage, failed by a dozen votes, 48-49. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Pat Roberts, R-KS, would have stopped states from imposing their own labels on
Continue Reading Senate splits over labeling food with genetically engineered ingredients
Congressional train rolling to pre-empt states on GMO labels
Labeling food in interstate commerce might come up enough in U.S. law and regulations for the federal government to claim it’s already pre-empted the subject from the states. However, with a July 1 deadline for compliance with a Vermont law requiring the labeling of food with any ingredients that are
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GMO labeling gets another look in two New England states
Today and tomorrow the Rhode Island House Committee on Health, Education and Welfare and the House side of the New Hampshire General Court will hear bills about labeling food made with genetically modified organisms (GMOs). A bipartisan majority of the New Hampshire Environment and Agriculture Committee led by Rep. John
Continue Reading GMO labeling gets another look in two New England states
Confessions of a former GMO virgin
Back in the late 1990s, I was a GMO virgin. I had never heard of GMOs — genetically modified organisms — nor had I ever had any contact with them, much less allowed any of them into my body. 
But that was soon to change. I attended a workshop about
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Ag secretary can’t find common ground for activists, industry on GE/GMO labels
Activists and industry reps sat down twice with Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to see if they could find a compromise about labeling food processed with genetic engineering. No compromise could be found, and it’s unlikely there will be a third meeting. That the negotiations broke down hardly came as
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Senate Committee OK’s Robert Califf as FDA Commissioner
Dr. Robert Califf is one step closer to becoming the next commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. Califf’s nomination, made Sept. 15, 2015, by President Barack Obama, gained approval Tuesday by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. 
Continue Reading Senate Committee OK’s Robert Califf as FDA Commissioner
Report: Mandate Food Process Labels Only if Product is Harmful
A report by the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) published Monday states that “process labels” for food should only be mandated when the product has been scientifically demonstrated to harm human health. Whether voluntary or mandatory, labels such as “Certified Organic,” “Rainforest Alliance Certified,” “rbST free,” “Fair Trade,”
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Bill Banning State GMO-Labeling Laws Moves to House Floor
The U.S. House Agriculture Committee has approved a bill that would put an end to state-level laws regulating the labeling of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food. The bill, H.R. 1599, or the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015, would require a national standard for labeling laws
Continue Reading Bill Banning State GMO-Labeling Laws Moves to House Floor
State Legislatures Pass on Adopting GMO-Labeling Policies This Year
U.S. Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-KS) may want to send some thank-you letters out to state legislative leaders who shut down efforts to get in his way this year. Pompeo is the GOP’s point man in Congress on federal policy to preempt the states from writing their own laws requiring the
Continue Reading State Legislatures Pass on Adopting GMO-Labeling Policies This Year
Vermont GMO-Labeling Law: ‘Harm to Industry’ Issue to be Appealed
A federal trial court judge’s April 27 decision allowing the state of Vermont to proceed with new rules requiring labels for genetically modified food is being appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston. The appeal was announced May 6 in a joint statement from
Continue Reading Vermont GMO-Labeling Law: ‘Harm to Industry’ Issue to be Appealed