The American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI) and its allies in the Coalition for Safe Affordable Food have expressed support for bipartisan legislation introduced in the US House of Representatives that will establish a federal labeling standard for food and beverage products made with genetically enhanced ingredients (GMOs).
Introduced by Reps. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) and G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.), the “Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015” preempts state-level efforts to enact mandatory GMO labeling efforts by empowering the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to create a uniform, national labeling program. The bill would require that all new products to market be first subjected to an FDA review and labeled as containing GMO ingredients only in instances where the FDA can demonstrate some risk.
“AFFI commends Reps. Pompeo and Butterfield for leading efforts to create a federal program for the labeling of foods containing genetically enhanced ingredients. We support a responsible and effective federal labeling program that prevents the creation of a complicated patchwork of state-based labeling rules that would increase, rather than reduce, consumer confusion and food prices,” said Kraig R. Naasz, president and ceo of the McLean, Virginia-based trade association.
“A voluntary program, administered by FDA, to evaluate food labels that claim the presence, or absence, of genetically-enhanced ingredients will bolster consumer confidence, while giving frozen food and beverage makers the certainty they need to meet the needs of America’s consumers,” added Naasz.
