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Health & Fitness

CT Senate Passes GMO Labeling Legislation

My colleagues and I in both parties supported new legislation which would require all food containing genetically modified ingredients to be appropriately labeled. The bill passed the State Senate in a vote of 35 to 1.

2010 survey conducted by Thomson Reuters found that 93 percent of Americans support labeling of genetically modified foods.

Consumers have a right to be informed when makings decisions which affect their families, especially when it comes to the food they put on the table. Studies have raised important questions about the health effects of genetically modified foods, and many people are rightfully concerned. 

"This legislation is about empowering consumers to make the decisions that are right for them. By providing more information about the products in the grocery store, shoppers can decide for themselves, their family and children what they do and do not wish to buy,” said Senator Leone.

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are plants or animals which have been artificially engineered to contain genetic information from other organisms. This allows a modified organism to exhibit traits it would not otherwise possess. The cultivation of genetically engineered crops has become widespread in the United States since their introduction to the market in the 1990s.

Most Americans consume some kind of food product containing GMO ingredients every day. The US Department of Agriculture reports that about 90 percent of all soybeans, corn, canola and sugar beets now raised in the United States qualify as GMOs. The Grocery Manufacturers Association estimates most processed foods (staples like cereal, granola bars, chicken nuggets and salad dressing) contain at least one GMO ingredient.

In proposing the new labeling requirements, legislators cited evidence of harmful health effects due to consumption of GMO products. A 2011 meta-analysis of 19 published studies involving mammals fed GMO corn or soy found damage in the kidneys, liver and bone marrow, which could indicate the onset of chronic diseases.

The legislators also pointed to the harmful health effects of glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup. 80 percent of GMO crops grown in the United States are specifically engineered to be cultivated with the use of glyphosate, earning such crops the nickname “Roundup ready.” A 2013 study authored by a scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology links glyphosate to gastrointestinal disorders, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, depression, autism, infertility, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.

Another area of concern is the environmental damage caused by the cultivation of GMO crops. The New York Times recently reported on a dramatic single-year die-off of monarch butterflies, key pollinators of many other crops and plants, attributed in part to an, “explosive increase in American farmland planted in soybean and corn genetically modified to tolerate herbicides.” Genetically modified crops have also been found to escape agricultural settings, spreading into the wild with unknown and untold ecological consequences.

Senate Bill 802 would require food intended for human consumption that is entirely or partially genetically-engineered to bear the words “Produced with Genetic Engineering” on their packaging. The phrase must be printed in the same size and font as the ingredients on the product’s nutrition facts panel. Unpackaged raw agricultural commodities must be labeled on their retail shelf or bin.

The bill imposes similar requirements on seed or seed stock intended to produce food for human consumption, which must bear a label on its holding container.The Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection would be empowered to embargo food items which are not appropriately labeled.

Exemptions from the labeling requirements would include food prepared for immediate human consumption (such as in restaurants), farm products sold at a farmer’s market, roadside stand or pick-your-own farm, and certain processed foods which contain no more than 0.9 percent of genetically-modified components.

If passed, the legislation would take effect on July 1, 2016, or as soon as July 1, 2015 if three of the following states also adopt a GMO labeling law: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania or New Jersey.

62 other countries, including the entire European Union, have already adopted similar measures.

The legislation now proceeds to the House of Representatives, where it will await further action.

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