Clean Production Action — Public Right to Know about Genetically Engineered Food

The Public Right to Know about Genetically Engineered Food

The global food system began to change in 1996, when the first genetically engineered food ingredients came on the market. A few companies informed consumers that they were eating genetically engineered (GE) ingredients, but there was no legislation making such labels mandatory for all food producers using these new foods. When people began to realize they were eating GE food without their knowledge or consent, there were immediate calls for mandatory segregation and labeling.

Responding to sustained pressure from the public, the EU, in 1998, introduced a partial-labeling scheme covering GE soybeans and maize. Currently more than 35 countries around the world have established mandatory labeling for GE food. Consumers in Europe, Russia, Australia, South Korea, and China have the right to know if they are eating GE food, but the U.S., Canada, and Argentina—the three largest producers of GE crops—continue to resist labels. For a list of countries with with national labeling see www.thecampaign.org.

Labeling rules in Europe have become more comprehensive, and the new regulations now cover labeling for all GE oils, flavorings, and additives. The new EU regulations also take effect up the supply chain and labeling will now be mandatory for the tractability of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), not just for the actual detection of GMOs in the final product. This means the use of animal food and feed derived from GMOs must be labeled allowing all food producers, even meat processors, to stipulate GMO or non-GMO ingredients.

Opinion polls commissioned by the European Commission suggest 94 percent of EU citizens want to have the right to choose between genetically engineered and naturally grown foods, with nearly 60 percent fearful that genetically engineered crops could damage the environment. Opinion polls in the U.S. and Canada consistently find that over 90 percent of the public wants mandatory labeling for genetically engineered food.

In some parts of the world, due to consumer pressure, supermarkets have cleared GE food from their shelves, however, double standards are still common. While in Europe global food companies favor the consumer’s right to know by labeling GE food and removing such ingredients from their products, these companies sell such food to consumers in other parts of the world with no labeling.

The issue will become more contentious in North America as the European Union tightens and expands its labeling laws for GE food and food imports, which will ensure that no GE food can enter the EU without labeling. This has prompted the U.S. government to threaten to take the issue to the World Trade Organization.

For more information on labeling campaigns in the U.S., Canada, and Argentina, visit

For more information on the subject of GE food, and a comprehensive list of contacts and links to groups around the world, visit www.geneticsaction.org.uk/

For more information on GMO consumer-related issues, please visit Consumers International www.consumersinternational.org