Food industry seeks voluntary GMO labeling

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http://www.adn.com/2014/02/06/3310066/food-companies-propose-voluntary.html

Food industry seeks voluntary GMO labeling
By MARY CLARE JALONICK
Associated Press
February 6, 2014 Updated 6 minutes ago

WASHINGTON — People who want to know more about genetically modified ingredients in their food would be able to get it on some packages, but not others, under a plan the industry is pushing.

Large food companies worried they might be forced to add "genetically modified" to packaging are proposing voluntary labeling of those engineered foods, so the companies could decide whether to use them or not.

The effort is an attempt to head off state-by-state efforts to require mandatory labeling. Recent ballot initiatives in California and Washington state failed, but several state legislatures are considering labeling requirements, and opponents of engineered ingredients are aggressively pushing for new laws in several states.

The move comes as consumers demand to know more about what's in their food. There's very little science that says genetically engineered foods are unsafe. But opponents say there's too much unknown about seeds that are altered in labs to have certain traits, and that consumers have a right to know if they are eating them. The seeds are engineered for a variety of reasons, many of them to resist herbicides or insects.