Vermont Business Magazine Respondents to a questionnaire conducted by the Vermont Attorney General's office concerning labels for genetically engineered foods do not want the disclaimer“the Food and Drug Administration does not consider foods produced from genetic engineering to be materially different from other foods” added to the label. Governor Shumlin signed the GE (aka, GMO) food labeling bill into law in May. The state faces substantial legal opposition from the food industry before labels will actually start to appear. But as part of the state's process of developing rules to implement the first-in-the-nation GE Food Labeling Law, Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell prepared a public questionnaire on how the labeling should appear. He issued preliminary results from the questionnaire Monday. The questionnaire, which was open from June 4 through June 30, 2014, received over 2,200 responses.
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“We saw tremendous interest in this topic, with hundreds of Vermonters and people from across the country and around the world weighing in how they felt labeling should proceed under the law,” Attorney General Sorrell said. The overwhelming majority (more than 80 percent) of responses came from persons identifying themselves as Vermonters. And, while consumers made up the lion’s share of respondents, roughly one-in-five respondents identified themselves as farmers, processors, retailers or distributors.
For the respondents who identified themselves as "consumers," 71.02 percent (of 1,508 total votes) said there should be no disclaimer; those identified as "retailers" were nearly evenly split with 51.16 percent (of 43 total votes) saying there should be a disclaimer and 48.88 percent saying there should not be, and those identified as "distributors, farmers, or processors" for the most part opposed the disclaimer, with 44.5 percent (of 218 total votes) saying yes and 55.5 percent saying no.
Among other things, the questionnaire results indicated some consensus among these stakeholders about the placement and prominence of required disclosures appearing on packaged foods. A majority of each constituent group weighing in responded in favor of placing the GE food disclosure somewhere near the product’s Nutrition Facts Label or Ingredient List. Additionally, a large proportion of each constituent group asked thought the disclosure should be in a font size equivalent to the words “Servings Per Container” and “Calories,” as they appear on the Nutrition Facts Label.
“Engaging retailers, producers and consumers about what makes sense to them is one important piece in our decision-making—along with weighing legal and practical considerations—as we craft the regulations that will put the law into effect,” Attorney General Sorrell explained. A summary of the questionnaire results is available here and at the Attorney General’s website, www.atg.state.vt.us, under the GE Food Labeling Rule link.
The Attorney General has also published answers to some common questions about the law on the Office’s website, www.atg.state.vt.us. This document can be accessed here, or by clicking on the GE Food Labeling Rule link from the AGO Website. The Office will periodically update the document.
The Attorney General is responsible for promulgating the rules that will implement Act 120—the law requiring the labeling of foods produced with genetic engineering. While the Attorney General will solicit official comments on a proposed draft rule later this year, individuals are welcome to provide initial input by contacting the Attorney General via email at [email protected]. People interested in keeping up to date on the development of the rules can also sign up for periodic email updates by going to the Office’s website, www.atg.state.vt.us, clicking on the GE Food Labeling Rule link, and following the directions there.
Source: VAG 7.14.2014. PHOTO: Governor Peter Shumlin, left, with Jerry Greenfield on church Street in Burlington promoting the "Food Fight" effort to raise money to support the state's law to label genetically engineered food.