The U.S. House passed a national standard for labeling food containing genetically-modified organisms, or GMOs, yesterday. But as Harvest Public Media’s Peggy Lowe reports, consumers may still have problems getting that information.
The bill, now passed by both the House and Senate, allows companies three ways to disclose that there are GMOs in their products. They can put text directly on the package, offer a phone number or website, or they can use a QR code that a shopper can scan with a smart phone.
Vermont Democrat Peter Welch says that makes a mockery of consumer information.
“When you’re grocery shopping, you’re trying to get home, get dinner on, you’ve got kids who gotta go to a school practice, and you’re supposed to stop, and scan the bar code, go to a website, to see whether that can of black bean soup has GMOs or not," he says.
The bill nullifies Vermont’s more stringent law. It’s expected to be signed by President Obama.
