Monsanto Threatens Vermont Legislature over GMO Labeling Bill, Says it Will Sue State

Posted by clnews _Featured_, Food, GMOs Friday, April 20th, 2012

(NaturalNews) Things are heating up on the genetic engineering front in the state of Vermont, where an overwhelming 96 percent of Vermonters vehemently support “right to know” legislation that mandates full disclosure of genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) on food labels. But according to Ronnie Cummins from the Organic Consumers Association (OCA), Monsanto is now threatening to sue the state of Vermont should it dare to pass such legislation, which has stalled it in committee.

H.722, also known as the Vermont Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act, would require any food product that contains GMOs to be labeled as such. It would also prohibit GMO-containing foods from being labeled “all natural” or “naturally grown,” which is quite common today, including even on some food products sold at health food grocers.

If passed, H.722 will make Vermont the first U.S. state to take a stand for transparency in food labeling, which will set a precedent for the other 49 states to mimic. And since numerous polls have showed that the vast majority of Americans from all states are in favor of GMO labeling, it will only be a matter of time before every state legislature is forced to come to terms with the GMO issue, or at least address it.

“H.722 is a simple but powerful bill — it will give all Vermonters the right to know if their food has been genetically engineered,” said Andrea Stander, Executive Director of Rural Vermont, about the bill. “Whether their need to know is based on health concerns such as new allergens, religious beliefs, or concerns for the impacts the production of genetically engineered food crops are having on farmers and the environment, a huge majority of Vermonters are demanding the right to know what’s in their food.”

Monsanto bullies Vermont with threats of legal action if it passes GMO labeling bill

But with GMO labeling comes widespread awareness about the presence of untested, unsafe ingredients throughout the food supply, which is sure to turn most people away from buying or eating them. At least 70 percent of the “inner aisle” food supply, or packaged, processed foods found in the center aisles at the grocery store, now contain GM ingredients.Monsanto knows that if GMOs are labeled, its business would quickly crumble. So to stop this from happening, the biotechnology giant has reportedly resorted to bullying the Vermont House Agriculture Committee (VHAC), which just so happens to support GMO labeling by a 6 – 5 majority, into stonewalling until the legislature adjourns for the year at the end of April.

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Monsanto’s Rationale for NOT Labeling GMO Food

CLN: On the Monsanto website, they provide their rationale for NOT labeling GMO food: “The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversees food labeling in the United States. The FDA has found there is no basis for concluding that bioengineered foods differ from other foods in any meaningful or uniform way, or that, as a class, foods developed by biotechnology present any different or greater safety concern than foods developed by traditional plant breeding. As such, the FDA does not require food derived from biotech crops be labeled differently from other food products.”

Got that? GMO food doesn’t have to be labeled because the FDA says so. Of course, the FDA is run by ex-Monsanto execs. The following is an excerpt from an article by Dr. Mercola:

Why is the Head of FDA Food Safety Tied to Monsanto?

Michael Taylor, a former vice president of public policy and chief lobbyist at Monsanto, is now the deputy commissioner for foods at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Taylor, sometimes called “Monsanto Mike,” has become the flashpoint for public anger at the FDA over issues that include failure to require labeling of GM (genetically modified) foods, failure to enforce and punish food safety violations by large producers, and ongoing efforts to drive raw milk producers out of business.

In case you’re not familiar with him, Taylor is the person who “oversaw the creation of GMO policy,” according to Jeffrey Smith, founder of the Institute for Responsible Technology:

“If GMOs are indeed responsible for massive sickness and death, then the individual who oversaw the FDA policy that facilitated their introduction holds a uniquely infamous role in human history. That person is Michael Taylor. He had been Monsanto’s attorney before becoming policy chief at the FDA. Soon after, he became Monsanto’s vice president and chief lobbyist,” Smith said.

This may surprise you at first, but once you realize just how many of Monsanto’s employees have shifted into positions of power within the federal government, it suddenly becomes a lot easier to see how this biotech giant managed to rake in a net income of $126 million for the first quarter of fiscal year 2012,despite being the mastermind behind some of the most dangerous products known to man, including Agent Orange, dioxin, aspartame and genetically modified seeds.

Note that the above image is from an article titled “18 Venn Diagrams Show How Corrupted American ‘Democracy’ Really Is” by Madison Ruppert.