Study urges Quaker to label GMOs

A recent survey for Just Label It found that nearly 93 percent of moms who buy Quaker products want the company to label foods that contain genetically modified organism, known as GMOs.

The company was one of three major foods brands the GMO labeling advocacy group targeted for the survey conducted by Lake Research Partners, which found that 70 percent of moms were less likely to purchase products from Quaker and its parent company PepsiCo when told the company funneled millions of dollars into campaigns to deny consumers the right to know about GMOs. Of the 800 mothers surveyed online, 80 percent said they wanted the company to stop financing anti-GMO labeling efforts.

{mosads} Quaker declined to comment on this survery.

“Food companies change labels regularly in order to give consumers more, rather than less, information about how food is made,” Just Label It’s Executive Director Scott Faber said in a news release. “We label orange juice from concentrate, country of origin for meat and poultry, and whether foods are irradiated; GMOs should be labeled in the same way.”

Just Label It said big food biotechnology companies have spent more than $105 million fighting state-level labeling efforts, $9 million of which can be attributed to PepsiCo alone.  

Lawmakers are pushing for a federal law that would require manufacturers to label all genetically engineered foods and any food products that contain genetically engineered ingredients.

The Genetically Engineered Food Right-to-Know Act, which Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) introduced in the House and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) introduced in the Senate, would direct the Food and Drug Administration to enforce the new rule.

Competing legislation introduced by Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.), however advocates say will only keep comsumers in the dark.

The Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015, co-sponsored by Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) would create a federal standard for voluntary labeling and pre-empt states from passing their own mandatory labeling laws for GMO foods. 

In July 2016, Vermont is set to become the first state to require mandatory GMO labeling.

In a statement Wednesday, the Coalition for Safe Affordable Food said EWG continues to mislead and frighten consumers to advance a GMO labeling agenda that will drive up the price of food for hard-working families across the country.

“It’s important to note that a recent survey by the International Food Information Council (IFIC) found that 86 percent of Americans believe that they would be able to find information about ingredients in their food if there was something they wanted to know,” the coalition said. “Americans deserve labeling decisions based on science, not scare tactics.”

This story was updated at 3:43 p.m. on Wednesday to include comments from the Coalition for Safe Affordable Food.