WASHINGTON, March 19, 2015—A bill introduced in Maine’s legislature today would require all foods distributed in the state to include a “GMO” label if genetically modified organisms were used to produce the final product.

Maine legislators passed a law in 2013 that would require labeling for foods made with GMOs, but only if five contiguous states, including New Hampshire, pass a similar requirement. The bill passed today, sponsored by Rep. Michelle Dunphy, D-Old Town, would remove that trigger clause and allow Maine to become the second state after Vermont to require GMO labels on certain foods.

Vermont’s law, which goes into effect in 2016, is undergoing legal challenges from the Grocery Manufacturers Association. Connecticut has also passed a GMO labeling law, but it includes a trigger clause similar to Maine’s. 

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Earlier this month, the New York State Assembly Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection voted to pass bill a GMO labeling bill that would not include any trigger clause.

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