For the purpose of this page, GMOs, GM foods, GE foods, and biotech foods are all synonymously intended to mean "genetically modified foods."

Consumers have a very poor grasp on the number of foods containing GMOs in the grocery store – and no wonder, because GMOs are never labeled. A 2006 Washington Post article tells that in America 89 percent of soybeans, 83 percent of cotton, and 61 percent of corn is genetically modified.  Because of the prevalence of corn and soy in processed foods, most Americans have been eating at least some GM foods for years – but few are aware of it. In fact, only one quarter of US adults polled believe they have ever eaten genetically engineered food.

Only 34 percent believe GM foods are safe and 27 percent support marketing GM foods. With wishy-washy support and widespread ignorance, the American public does not exactly embrace GMOs but also lacks the resolve to demand they be taken off the market. One of the few definitive messages Americans communicated via poll data comes from an earlier June 2001 telephone poll conducted by ABC news; in that poll, 93 percent of Americans supported GMO labeling.

Among those who do not want to eat GMOs, reasons may vary from personal safety to environmental concerns, many of which are legitimate criticisms of GMOs. Then again, given the pervasive lack of biotech knowledge among Americans, perhaps their fears are not as rational and calculated as, say, a fear of eating undercooked hamburgers. However, that should not undermine the authenticity of their fears or their rights to avoid GMOs if they so choose.

As it is, one can only abstain from eating GMOs by avoiding all foods made with non-organic corn, soy, canola, Hawaiian papaya, and any other future food for which a GMO is legally sold – and he or she must know this and keep track of which GM foods are legalized in order to avoid them without any sort of GMO labeling to rely on.

On the flipside, GMO labeling would also assist consumers who do wish to eat GM foods. For example, if gluten-free wheat were engineered so those with gluten allergies to non-GM wheat could enjoy it, a label would be the crucial element alerting shoppers with allergies to which bread, flour, or other products they should buy. No doubt such a product could capture a premium price as well! However, if popular GMO products entered the market, food processors would be falling all over themselves to voluntarily label them and broadcast their beneficial properties over TVs, billboards, magazine ads, and anywhere else they might catch a consumers’ attention.

Food companies only resist labeling when the label at stake will drive customers away or lower the price customers are willing to pay for their product. In my mind, this is exactly why GM foods should be labeled – so the technology can withstand scrutiny from the market and so consumers are free to choose whether to buy them. If GMOs are so great, food companies should wish to brag about them.

In fact, makers of GMOs are so ashamed of their product, that they get touchy when other products label themselves GMO-free. Their panties are in a twist because GMO-free labeling might sway consumers that GMO-free is a good thing (and conversely, GMOs are a bad thing). After Monsanto sued a dairy for labeling its milk as free of artificial growth hormones, the FDA stipulated that all dairy labeled as rBGH-free must also display a statement that the FDA does not believe that there is a significant difference in milk from cows treated with rBGH. 

Recipe for America calls for the passage of legislation requiring labeling of all GMOs and an end to the statement appended to all rBGH-free labels as mandated by the FDA. Such a label would be a first step towards educating the public to make wise decisions about what they eat. As soon as consumers become aware of the ubiquity of GMOs in their local grocery stores, many will pay more attention to biotechnology headlines in the news and perhaps even seek out more information on their own.

In the past, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) have each introduced bills requiring GMO labeling to their respective chambers of Congress. The bill introduced by Rep. Kucinich, HR 5269 "The Genetically Engineered Food Right to Know Act," simply requires food companies to label all foods containing GE material and calls on the FDA to test foods to ensure compliance.

ACTION: If you support labeling foods with GM content, call or email your representatives. A grassroots Internet campaign called The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods (http://www.thecampaign.org) provides information and tools to help you contact your representatives and take other actions to support this issue.