WASHINGTON, Jan. 11, 2013 – A bill to require labeling of all “genetically modified food product” for human and animal consumption has been pre-filed in the New Mexico State Senate.
Sen. Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, sponsored the legislation, officially called Senate Bill (SB) 18. The bill would amend the New Mexico Food Act and would require any food composed of at least “one percent of genetically modified material” to carry an “easily legible” label on its packaging. The law would apply to all human and animal foods, including livestock feed and chewing gum.
“The premise of this amendment is simple – New Mexicans deserve the right to know what’s in the food they are eating and feeding to their families,” Senator Wirth told Food & Water Watch. “Labeling GE foods and feed will empower consumers with basic information to help them decide for themselves the types of food they want to buy.”
The legislation was introduced in mid-December 2012, after Proposition 37’s narrow Election Day defeat in California. That legislation would have mandated labeling on “raw or processed food offered for sale to consumers if made from plants or animals with genetic material changed in specific ways.”
Washington’s newly introduced Initiative 522 would also require labeling on foods produced entirely or partly through the use of genetically modified organisms. The Initiative was submitted the state’s Secretary of State on January 3, and could come up for a vote in November.
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