GMO Labeling Lawsuit Update

Rural Vermont is tremendously proud to be one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit that challenges the USDA rules with the goal to uphold what is the food movements demand: the consumer's right-to-know if their food was produced with Genetically engineered (GE) organisms.  

In the lawsuit that was filed in July, 2020, our attorneys from the Center for Food Safety claim:

(From the press release, read in full here):

“First, the case challenges USDA's Disclosure Act’s unprecedented allowance of electronic or digital disclosure on packaging, also known as "QR code" or "smartphone" labeling, without requiring additional on-package labeling. […]

"Requiring a smartphone discriminates against at least 20 percent of the American adult population—primarily poor, elderly, rural, and minority populations—who have lower percentages of smartphone ownership, or live in areas in which grocery stores do not have internet bandwidth," said Caroline Gordon of Rural Vermont, a plaintiff in the case. […]

Second, CFS is challenging USDA's labeling language restrictions. When on-package text is used, the rules limit it to only "bioengineered," despite the law allowing use of similar terms. But for 25 years, every aspect of the issue—science, policy, and marketplace—has used genetically engineered (GE) or genetically modified (GMO). […]

Third, the case challenges USDA's severe restriction on which foods are covered and require disclosure. The vast majority of GE foods (by some estimates over 70%) are not whole foods, but highly processed foods with GE ingredients, like sodas and oils. Yet in the final rule USDA excluded these "highly refined" products, unless the GE material was "detectable." […]

Fourth, the exclusive rules restrict retailers and producers from voluntarily providing more meaningful information to consumers, such as using the terms GE and GMO. The only voluntary labeling allowed is "derived from bioengineering" and only in certain circumstances. […]”

In addition, CFS claims that the USDA would violate the Tenth Amendment in preempting state laws requiring GE seed labeling without then regulating GE seed labeling on the federal level.

To learn more about the lawsuit and how to support contact caroline@ruralvermont.org