Californians Fail to Label Frankenfood

Environmentalists were disappointed last night when California voters decided not to require labeling of genetically modified food. It was a defeat for common sense by big money from the biotech and food industry. Corporate Amerika bought a last minute deluge of negative TV ads that defeated Proposition 37. The proposition had been doing well in opinion polls in the weeks before Tuesday's vote; a September 27th poll found over 60% of respondents supported the proposition. On election night it was defeated 53% to 47%. Monsanto, Pepsi, DuPont and Kraft, among other corporate titans, spent $40 million to keep GMO labeling out of California. That amount was five times the money spent in support of Prop 37. Monsanto, a leading developer of GMO products, also made large contributions to defeat Oregon's Measure 27 in 2002. Supporters claim that the food industry used scare tactics of higher food prices to defeat a law intended to keep consumers informed of what they are putting into their bodies. An estimated 70% of processed foods contain some genetically altered ingrediant, typically corn, soybeans or canola oil. As a famous nutritionist once said, "you are what you eat". If the initiative had passed, labeling would have certainly followed throughout the country since California is such a large segment of the US market. Europe has required labeling of GMO food since 1997. The FDA rejected labeling in 1992. A recent study found rats developed large tumors and other health problems when fed a diet of genetically modified corn. {"Frankencorn"}