HB 1 tackles issue of labeling genetically modified food

HB 1 tackles issue of labeling genetically modified food

The debate over genetically modified foods may be coming to Florida's Capitol, if a bill filed for the 2014 session can get heard in a committee.

HB 1 by Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda is similar to a bill she filed in the 2013 session that requires labeling of genetically modified food. But her 2013 bill and the Senate companion never were taken up by committees.

Since the end of the 2013 session on May 3, Connecticut passed a labeling law but it requires other states to pass them as well before it takes effect. A 2012 ballot initiative in California calledProposition 37 was killed by voters last year after Monsanto Co. and other opponents spent $46 million against the measure, according to Voters Edge.

Rehwinkel Vasilinda, D-Tallahassee, says her bill is in response to 1,500 petition cards received from residents across the state asking for a labeling requirement on genetically modified foods. She said she thinks it has a better chance of getting a vote in 2014.

"There are a couple of states that are very seriously looking at it," she said. "Sixty-one countries require food labeling: The EU (European Union), Japan, a number of our trading partners. The more people learn about it they say they really want to know (through labeling)."

Food and Water Watch has launched a nationwide campaign to petition elected officials to support legislation in states that resulted in the petition cards being sent to Rehwinkel Vasilinda.

Another group called A Coalition of States for GMO Labeling says genetic engineering creates unstable combinations of plant, animal, bacterial and viral genes that cannot occur in nature or through traditional crossbreeding.

"Despite two decades of biotech industry promises, none of the GMO (genetically modified organism) traits currently on the market offer increased yield, drought tolerance, enhanced nutrition or any other consumer benefit," the group says.

But Monsanto, which produces genetically modified crops and contributed $8.1 million toward defeating Proposition 37 in California, says it is against labeling proposals in the absence of any demonstrated risks posed by genetically modified food.

Others say opponents are ignoring the potential global benefits of genetically modified food while ignoring the lives that can be saved from providing food in hungry nations.

Rehwinkel Vasilinda said she is sponsoring HB 1 because she thinks it represents a consumer issue and that it's important for people to know what they are putting into their bodies.

"It's a real free-market kind of thing," she said. "If you know and want to make a decision yes or no, the least government can say is, 'Label your foods so people can make decisions about what they want to buy.'" TheFloridaCurrent