GMO labeling up to the voters

The state’s voters get to weigh in this fall on whether genetically modified foods should be labeled. The Secretary of State’s Office announced this week (June 11) that enough valid signatures were gathered to place the Right to Know initiative on the November ballot. If passed, food containing GMOs—plants and meats with laboratory as opposed to naturally altered DNA—will include that information on their labels.

In a press release from the California Right to Know campaign, Grant Lundberg, of Richvale’s Lundberg Family Farms, says the United States is one of the few developed nations that don’t require alerting consumers about GMOs. “More than 40 other countries—including all of Europe, Japan and even China—already label genetically engineered food,” he said. “Californians deserve to be able to make informed choices too,” Lundberg said.

Chicoan Pamm Larry helped lead the statewide effort to qualify the initiative.