California consumers will have more choices this year for buying foods free of genetically modified ingredients, despite the November defeat of a ballot measure that would have required labeling.
Prop. 37 was a first-in-the-nation effort to require labeling of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. The measure was defeated by 51 percent after food, soda and agricultural companies donated $46 million to outspend supporters by about 5 to 1.
A number of studies have concluded that genetically modified foods are safe to eat, but supporters worried about the health and environmental consequences of crops engineered in a lab, often to withstand pesticides. Despite the defeat, the measure has generated sharp interest in a voluntary labeling program that verifies products as free of GMOs.
Read more here:
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/gmo-382949-non-labeling.html
