Monsanto doesn't want you to know it has tinkered with your food. (photo: Food Watch)
Top 10 Lies Told by Monsanto on GMO Labeling in California
23 August 12
he battle in California over Proposition 37, which would require labeling of foods containing GMOs, is really heating up. Millions of dollars are already being poured into the opposition campaign, with much of it going to former Big Tobacco shills.
Over at GMO HQ, Monsanto recently posted this missive
called "Taking a Stand: Proposition 37, The California Labeling
Proposal," in which the biotech giant explains why it is opposing the
measure (to the tune of $4.2 million so far).
Even for a corporation not exactly known for its honesty and transparency, this brief webpage
is riddled with deception and outright falsehoods about the initiative
and its proponents. Here are the 10 most blatant examples:
1) The law "would require a warning label on food products."
No warning label would be required. Rather, the words
"partially produced with genetic engineering" or "may be partially
produced with genetic engineering" would be required on the back of the
package -- similar to what is now required for ingredient or allergen
labeling. For whole foods, like the sweet corn coming soon to a Walmart near you,
a sign would be posted on the store shelf with the words "genetically
engineered." The aim is simply to offer consumers additional information
about the contents of the foods they purchase.
2) "The safety and benefits of these ingredients are well established."
Unfortunately, no long-term studies exist on either
the safety or benefits of GMO ingredients, so Monsanto has no basis for
making such a claim. Indeed, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does
not even require safety studies of genetically engineered foods.
Meanwhile, some independent studies raise questions about links to allergies and other potential health risks.
3) "The American Medical Association just
re-affirmed that there is no scientific justification for special
labeling of bioengineered foods."
This statement, while true, is taken out of context
and is misleading because the AMA also (for the first time) called for
mandatory premarket safety studies of GMOs. As Consumers Union recently
noted in its reaction to AMA's announcement, labeling and testing logically go together:
The AMA's stance on mandatory labeling isn't consistent with its support for mandatory pre-market safety assessments. If unexpected adverse health effects, such as an allergic reaction, happen as a result of GE, then labeling could perhaps be the only way to determine that the GE process was linked to the adverse health effect.
4) Food companies "have had the choice" to use GM ingredients.
Choice is a good thing; however, consumers have never
had the choice. Prop 37 will give consumers a long-overdue choice about
eating genetically engineered food.
5) "FDA says that such labeling would be inherently misleading to consumers."
Of course FDA refuses to require GMO labeling, thanks
to Monsanto's arm-twisting that began more than 20 years ago. Food
Democracy Now's Dave Murphy explained
the FDA decision in May upon its 20-year anniversary, which came as a
result of a broader deregulatory push by the first Bush administration:
Twenty years ago this week, then-Vice President Dan Quayle announced the FDA's policy on genetically engineered food as part of his "regulatory relief initiative." As Quayle explained in the 1992 press conference, the American biotechnology industry would reap huge profits "as long as we resist the spread of unnecessary regulations."
Dan Quayle's 1992 policy announcement is premised on the notion that genetically engineered crops are "substantially equivalent" to regular crops and thus do not need to be labeled or safety tested. The policy was crafted by Michael Taylor, a former Monsanto lawyer who was hired by the Bush FDA to fill the newly created position of deputy commissioner of policy.
Five years earlier, then-Vice President George H.W. Bush visited a Monsanto lab for a photo op with the developers of Roundup Ready crops. According to a video report of the meeting, when Monsanto executives worried about the approval process for their new crops, Bush laughed and told them, "Call me. We're in the dereg businesses. Maybe we can help."
Call they did. It's typical for corporations to get
their policy agenda approved through back-channel lobbying and revolving
door appointments and then point to the magical policy outcome as
evidence of scientific decision-making.
6) "Consumers have broad food choices today, but could be denied these choices if Prop 37 prevails."
There is no basis in logic that consumers could be
denied food choices. Indeed, Proposition 37 actually broadens the
meaningful food choices available through greater transparency. Right
now, people are eating in the dark.
7) "Interestingly, the main proponents of
Proposition 37 are special interest groups and individuals opposed to
food biotechnology who are not necessarily engaged in the production of
our nation's food supply."
In fact, quite a large number of food producers,
farmers and others very much "engaged in the production of our nation's
food supply" support the campaign. (See the growing list of
endorsements.) Speaking of "special interest groups" wouldn't that label
apply to the likes of Monsanto and all the industrial food producers
who oppose Proposition 37?
8) "Beneath their right to know slogan is a deceptive marketing campaign aimed at stigmatizing modern food production."
"Modern food production" -- is that Monsanto's latest
euphemism for scientifically altering the genetic code of the food
supply? In truth, nothing is hidden "beneath" the Right to Know
campaign, that's all it's about. But because Monsanto has no good
argument for why consumers don't have the right to know how their food
is produced, it has to resort to distracting deceptions.
9) "[Proponents] opinions are in stark contrast with leading health associations."
Another look at the long list of Prop 37 endorsements reveal that Monsanto and friends are actually out of step with leading health associations, such as:
- American Public Health Association
- American Medical Students Association
- American Academy of Environmental Medicine
- Physicians for Social Responsibility, California chapters
- California Nurses Association
10) "The California proposal would serve the
purposes of a few special interest groups at the expense of the majority
of consumers."
Again, logic defies this talking point, especially
since all polling indicates a "majority of consumers" want GMO food to
be labeled. Indeed, the most recent California poll shows the
proposition winning by a 3-to-1 margin. No wonder Monsanto has to resort
to such nonsensical talking points.
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