Move to Label GMO Foods Is Alive and Well

California’s Proposition 37, which sought mandatory labeling of all GMO (genetically modified organism) food, was defeated in the November 2012 elections with major influence from a ~$45 million anti-37 campaign underwritten by Monsanto®, a company with enormous investment in GMO technology and products.

However, in late November, this grassroots movement grabbed new traction when healthcare titan Kaiser Permanente® published an article in its Northwest Fall 2012 Partners in Health e-newsletter suggesting that members limit consumption of GMO products. Kaiser is one of the nation’s largest not-
for-profit health plans, serving more than 9 million members.

The article, written by a Kaiser nutritionist and headlined “What You Need to Know About GMOs,” cites that “despite what the biotech industry might say, there is little research on the long-term effects of GMOs on human health.” The author offers several tips about which foods commonly contain GMOs; the food and product alternatives that exist; and other clues that unlabeled food might offer regarding origin.

“GMOs have been added to our food supply since 1994, but most people don’t know it because the United States does not require labeling of GMOs,” writes the nutritionist, who describes studies that show significant physical damage caused by GMOs.

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