Taxpayer-subsidized corn industry spread blatant disinformation, falsely claiming GMO labeling would raise food prices

Sunday, March 06, 2016 by: Jennifer Lea Reynolds
Tags: GMO labeling, food prices, Corn Refiners

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(NaturalNews) Enough already, anti-GMO-labeling people. Really.

The bottom line is that everyone has the right to know what's in the food they're about to eat, so why the relentless attempts to try to keep such efforts at bay?

One such insane attempt was recently demonstrated by the Corn Refiners Association (CRA), which claims that labeling genetically engineered foods as such would be so costly that it would actually increase food prices. No, this isn't a joke, but an honest to goodness excuse – yet again – that aims to suffocate efforts to improve the public's health.

Seriously, can printing a few extra words on a label really up prices as dramatically as the CRA is leading people to believe? Do they truly think people will fall for that reason as a justification for why GMO labeling is – in their opinion – unnecessary? To resort to fear tactics (your food prices will surge!) in order to get people to turn to the anti-GMO labeling side is a blatant, grasp-at-straws attempt that shows utter disregard for human safety.

Corn industry says GMO labeling will be costly, but other countries have experienced no such problem

All these folks care about is carrying on as usual, which of course means keeping the GMO powers-that-be happy while continuing to collect money from taxpaying citizens. Do they really think we're so gullible as to think that the addition of some ink on a label will increase food prices? As if we're all going to now say, "Well, by all means, let's forget this whole GMO food-labeling issue, then!"

It's nothing short of absurd.

So the CRA continues, maintaining that such labeling efforts will put families an average of $1,000 deeper in the financial hole.

However, the facts speak for themselves. For example, other areas have successfully engaged in GMO food labeling and symbols, without experiencing a dent in their wallets. In Brazil, where GMO food has had a "transgenic" symbol since the early 2000s, it's been found that food prices did not increase. Not only that, but consumers were also more inclined to make purchases of GMO labeled foods, pleased to know that others were on board with such a common sense notion. Similarly, 64 other countries have followed suit, with experiences that were just as positive.

Scare tactics won't work ... Besides, if Campbell's can do it, so can others

Of the CRA's fear-invoking attempt, people see through it like glass.

First of all, they're well-aware that this is the same group of people who think high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is a good thing, so that in itself should be enough to make anyone question the logic behind their statements. Furthermore, the CRA is misguiding the public; in reality they know that increased costs will likely be experienced by manufacturers who ultimately will have to switch to non-GMO ingredients. Yet they've twisted that truth to make it sound as though labeling will cost consumers when it comes to food price increases. It's nonsense "logic" though, because one has nothing to do with the other.

"The food industry is once again attempting to scare consumers and legislators in order to get their way," says Andrew Kimbrell, executive director at Center for Food Safety. "Campbell's Soup has announced it will label all of its GE products, at no added cost to the consumer. If a company like Campbell's can take this step to label their food accurately, then there is no reason the rest of the industry can't follow suit."

You may recall that Campbell's made history when the company announced their "... support for mandatory national labeling of products that may contain genetically modified organisms (GMO) and proposed that the federal government provide a national standard for non-GMO claims made on food packaging." They made clear their belief that people deserve to know what's in their food, honing in on the fact that the topic is a significant concern for the majority of the population.

Yet – sadly – even in the face of such clear thinking and health advocacy, there remain people like those at the CRA who are determined to fight common sense.

Sources for this article include:

GMWatch.org

NaturalNews.com

Science.NaturalNews.com

Science.NaturalNews.com