The U.S. House on Thursday passed a measure that would prohibit state and local governments from requiring companies to put labels on products containing genetically modified foods.
The Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act, or as opponents call it, the Deny Americans the Right to Know (DARK) Act, was approved 275-150, with 45 Democrats voting in favor. The bill now heads to the Senate, reported The Associated Press.
If enacted into law, the measure would replace state and local laws with a national GMO-free program, overseen by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, that companies could voluntarily participate in.
The legislation would nullify GMO labeling laws that have passed in three states but haven't yet taken effect: Vermont, Maine and Connecticut.
Bill authors Republican Rep. Mike Pompeo of Kansas and Democrat G.K. Butterfiled of North Carolina praised its passage.
"We're very happy that we've taken this first step along the way toward getting a sound policy for agricultural biotechnology in the U.S. - something that's been needed for a decade-plus," Pompeo said in an interview on Thursday, according to McClatchy. "Now to have it pass across the House floor is a significant milestone."
Butterfield said the bill would spare consumers confusion and prevent food prices from inflating. Mandatory GMO labeling would result in a need for "wholesale changes to growing, packaging and shipping food," he said.
Butterfield claims his bill is a "measured approach" that "gives consumers certainty while taking into account the complexity and delicate balance of the food chain responsible for feeding millions of Americans."
The measure was also backed by a number of the nation's largest food manufacturers, and a coalition of agricultural interests that wrote a letter to lawmakers this spring voicing support.
Nearly 90 percent of all corn, soybeans and cotton grown in the U.S. has had its genes genetically altered to make it more resistant to pests or weed killer, or to allow it to require less water.
For opponents of the law, like Chellie Pingree, a House Democrat from Maine who is also an organic farmer, it's not about whether scientists consider GMOs safe. It's simply important for consumers to know what they are putting in their body, she said, noting that food labels are already required to tell consumers many things.
"We know how many calories are in it, thanks to the labels. We know how much vitamin C we get per serving. We know if a fish is farm-raised or wild-caught, and we want to know those things. Shouldn't we also be able to know if the food we are buying has GMO ingredients?" she asked, according to NPR.
Others worry about herbicides like glyphosate, which is widely used on GMO crops and has been detected in foods. Farmers spray the weed killer on plants that have been genetically altered to be resistant to glyphosate, so only the weeds die when the plant is sprayed. Earlier this year, a World Health Organization research team said the chemical "probably" causes cancer in humans.
