ConAgra Foods and Kelloggs Join Growing Number of Companies Voluntarily Labeling GMOsBy Derrick Broze ConAgra and Kelloggs will soon begin labeling their food products which contain Genetically Modified or Engineered Organisms. The announcement comes in response to Vermonts recently passed GMO labeling law, which goes into effect in July 2016. In a statement provided to Agri-Pulse, Kellogg North America President Paul Norman said some of the companys products would be labeled Produced with Genetic Engineering as soon as mid-April. Norman said the labels will appear nationwide because a special label for Vermont would be costly for us and our consumers. We stand behind the health and safety of all of our products, including those with genetically modified ingredients, and believe consumers should be informed as to whats in their food, ConAgra Foods said in a statement. ConAgra agreed with Kellogg, stating that state-by-state labels would be costly and complicated. The company also called on Congress to pass a national solution as quickly as possible. The announcement comes on the heels of a similar decision from Mars Incorporated, the company that owns many popular chocolate candy brands. The company will label its products nationwide, including MMs, SNICKERS, Dove, Galaxy, Mars, Milky Way, TWIX, 3 MUSKETEERS and more. A week before, General Mills announced that it would voluntarily label products containing genetically-modified or engineered ingredients. Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President for General Mills U.S. Retail, Jeff Harmening, said the company could not exclusively label their products in Vermont without driving up the cost for consumers. Harmening also said GM was disappointed that a national solution has not been reached. One national solution that has been proposed is Senate Bill 2609, or the Biotech Labeling Solutions Act. The legislation, introduced by Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) in late February, would create a federal voluntary standard for labeling genetically modified or engineered ingredients, and block mandatory labeling efforts by states. GE seeds are engineered to have certain traits, such as resistance to herbicides. The majority of the United States corn and soybean crops are now GE, including a large portion that is used for animal feed. The bill recently failed to reach the 60 votes needed during a procedural vote, with 49 votes in favor and 48 votes against. The bill would amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to require the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a national voluntary labeling standard for bioengineered foods. Roberts bill is similar to the controversial Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act, which passed the House in June 2015. To critics, the bill was known as the DARK (Deny Americans the Right to Know) Act because the law would have effectively nullified GE labeling measures, such as the Vermont bill. Senator Roberts bill would prevent the Vermont bill from becoming law. Lawmakers say that a new bill is necessary to avoid a patchwork of laws that vary from state to state. Maine and Connecticut have also passed laws requiring labeling, but those measures will not go into effect until bordering states also pass legislation. Whole Foods Market Inc, Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc and Campbell Soup Co have also begun voluntarily labeling products with genetically engineered ingredients. Perhaps the companies recognize that involving the U.S. government will only create more problems, especially when the government is so heavily interlaced with biotechnology companies like Monsanto. It appears as if companies are finally recognizing that the American people want to know what is in their food. As Anti Media recently noted, it seems as if Vermont, one of the smallest states in the Union, might have just managed a coup for consumers by being bold enough to pass a labeling law that is inadvertently persuading food manufacturers to voluntarily label their products. What are your thoughts on GMOs? Are they safe or a health hazard? Do you support labeling? Should labeling be voluntary or mandatory? Leave your thoughts below. Image Credit Derrick Broze is an investigative journalist and liberty activist. He is the Lead Investigative Reporter for selfnewsPost.com and the founder of the TheConsciousResistance.com. Follow him on Twitter. Derrick is available for interviews. This article may be freely reposted in part or in full with author attribution and source link. I have to say this is surprising. maybe the bribes werent big enough Not surprising at all. Self preservation. Once stigmatized it will be hard to recover. They all will start producing more organic options too, otherwise they will steadily lose market share. Free Market: 1, Corporate Scumbags: 0 The big bribes will come. One would suspect BIG PHARMA is lurking in the corridors too, because, crap food = crap health. And crap health = constant sickness and meds. Perfect recipe! some of the companys products would be labeled Produced with Genetic Engineering If they have any sense they will all start moving away from gmos altogether as more and more studies will link them to an assortment of ailments already prevalent in society. Lawsuits will be the next thing Congress makes harder to bring against these biotech giants. I have to say that this is an issue that as bad as it is, its amazing that even reading it.. voluntary labeling, lawsfood to eat. Just a little bit improper, unbelievable and to the bold point of even having to go down this yellow brick road and how far it is going down that is. Tiptoe and be nice and just ask.you know, maybe they will. This is a white flag from these big food companies to try and lure consumers back to them. Aside from the GMOs, they are known to use chemical fillers in their foods to increase profits. The fact that the DARK billed passed and revelations such as the water in Flint, MI, have demonstrated that the government does not care about the health of the general population. Given the attitude of the government, any food labeling at all may be a mute point. The DARK bill did not pass. It was defeated. I was referring to the portion of the article that said that it passed the House, but it did not say it was defeated. Thank goodness for that! They know a majority of people do not read labels, so they figure the dumbed down public will buy their food regardless. With all the information about HFCS I still see people buying dozens of liters of bottles sodas at the supermarket and 44 oz big gulps for them and their kids You are so right. They have finally realized they are throwing good money after bad. Instead of fighting this they will launch campaigns to educate us on the scientifically proven benefits of GMO to continue sales. This is Hillarys Cruzs plan. Both work for supported by the industry. Donald will take whatever bribes offered. Bernie is the only one that is fighting it from Vermont. Good post I hate to see people at the grocery store buy all of that food, and those BIG sodas. Its sooo sad, I wish I could tell them, to go buy only ORGANIC fruits, and vegetables. Theres organic boxes, and bagged food in most grocery stores now, in the brand of food they love too. Eat and drink as much ORGANIC as you can, and stay away from all those chemicals, and GMOs, that are in 95% of everything thats in that grocery store. Citizens also demand that all food and beverage products be labeled identifying Glyphosate in that product. At least this is a step in the right direction. Too late for me Kelloggs. You could have step forward years ago and you didnt. Now when others have made the grand gesture you feel you have no choice. Whats the matter, sales going down. Our once trusted companies have let us down. Time to give the little guy a chance. Agree! These companies are more than likely lying, or hiding something else. They would never tell the truth. They want as many chemicals as they can get in us. I refuse to eat 95% of any grocery store food. I eat and drink ONLY organic! And I keep abreast of which organic companies are sleeping with Monsatan. Real marijuana hook ups here at 420cannabisplug dot com 