Originally published August 13 2010
Glaring Loophole Exists in the GMO Food Right to Know Act
by Aaron Turpen
(NaturalNews) Many whole foods and organics proponents have been excited to see the introduction of H.R.5577, The Genetically Engineered Food Right to Know Act in the House of Representatives.1 Going by the title and the public words given by sponsors such as Rep. Dennis Kucinich, the Act will set the record straight and require labeling for all genetically modified foods and organisms (GMO) in the U.S. Or will it?
Glaring loopholes exist, especially for the so-called "Organics" industry (as defined by the United States Department of Agriculture, USDA). These allow GMO foods to be used in ingredients or processing without requiring a "contains GMO" label. The bill includes an exemption allowing anything on the "Allowed List" from the Organic Foods Production Act to be considered non-GMO for labeling purposes.
Back in 2007 and 2008, NaturalNews covered this long list of allowed (and definitely non-organic) substances.2 It includes such things as corn starch (most corn in the U.S. is GMO) and flavorings. This, sad bow to Big Agra that it is, doesn't compare to the next hole in the hull of this Titanic monster of a lie.
The Genetically Engineered Food Right to Know Act also allows other foods to be exempted from the GMO label requirement purely by bureaucratic caveat. In an obvious nod to Big Ag and its de facto ownership of the USDA and FDA, the Act allows GMO foods to ignore labeling requirements if they do not have testing regulations from the Secretary of Agriculture for that particular food.
In other words, the Secretary and his non-elected bureaucrats (whose history are "replete" with nothing but honest behavior..3) will be the ones who come up with these "regulations."
Of course, the primary concern any American should have with H.R.5577 is not the aforementioned loopholes and obvious allowances for Industrial Agriculture and Agribusiness. No, it's the utter dependence the People seem to have on corrupt organizations within government to decide who does and doesn't get to use a specific label, who does or doesn't get to market a certain product, and who does and doesn't decide what is and isn't considered "healthy" or even "natural."
Most Americans seem content to blindly stuff anything that tastes good into their mouths and happily believe the propaganda given to them promoting poisons, untested derivatives, and worse. As Americans rush to find more affordable health care to take care of their continually declining health, they turn a blind eye to the real causes behind their chronic woes.
Those few of us who see what is happening and the cattle chute through which most are being driven to the slaughterhouse - fed by the slop of marketing given to them as "news"- are fighting for the right to choose our own destinies, our own food sources and types, and our very lives and the lives of our families.
Are you fighting with us? Will you join in and demand, without surrender or compromise, your natural right to health? Will you tell them "no, it is my body, my life, my choice to decide what I will eat, what I will drink, and what I will do to make myself healthy?"
Or will you stand by the wayside and hope it all works out in the end? The choice you make now will either haunt your nightmares or give you something to be proud of. Which will it be?
Resources:
1 - H.R.5577, Genetically Engineered Food Right to Know Act introduced to the House of Representatives by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (OH), Library of Congress
See also H.R.5577 at OpenCongress.org
2 - Cornucopia Institute reveals agribusiness conspiracy to mislead consumers over almonds by Mike Adams, Natural News and USDA Renews Approval of 46 Non-Organic Ingredients in "Organic" Foods by David Gutierrez, NaturalNews
3 - Corruption: USDA Looks Out Only for Self Interests by Aaron Turpen, NaturalNews
About the author
Aaron Turpen is a professional writer living in Wyoming in the USA. His blogs cover organic/sustainable living and environmental considerations (AaronsEnvironMental.com) and the science debunking mainstream medical and proving alternatives (HiddenHealthScience.com).
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