by Catherine Haug Jan 14, 2015 (Image, right Image by C. Haug based on similar image from Oregon Right To Know)
Campbells (the soup company) has just announced that it will label ALL its products that contain GMO ingredients using plain English on the packaging – not QR codes – in compliance with, and addition to, Vermont’s GMO labeling law. It is the first processed food company to break ranks with the biotech and food industries on the issue of mandatory labeling of GMOs. They will roll out their new labels over the next 12 – 18 months.
See their announcement: Why we support mandatory national GMO labeling (1) for more details.
The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) reports the following discussions on this announcement(2):
So the first question we asked the Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB) last week, following the announcement that Campbell’s will label all of its products that contain GMOs, was this: Will you charge more for these products after you label them?
In an email to OCA, company spokesman Tom Hushen wrote:
“To be clear, there will be no price increase as a result of Vermont or national GMO labeling for Campbell products.”
Will Campbell’s have to absorb extra costs associated with labeling? Will profit margins on their GMO brands shrink?
No, says Carmen Bain, a sociology professor at Iowa State University who studies GMO labeling. Bain told PoliticoPro’s Jenny Hopkinson:
“Campbell has determined that the cost of labeling their products is negligible (and therefore won’t mean higher costs for consumers) and that it’s probably costlier for them not to get out in front of this thing.”
Campbells cites their Purpose and a “Consumer First” mindset as their reason for this change (1)
At Campbell, we are unleashing the power of our Purpose, Real food that matters for life’s moments. Our Purpose calls for us to acknowledge that consumers appreciate what goes into our food, and why—so they can feel good about the choices they make, for themselves and their loved ones.
Nevertheless, they still maintain that GMOs are safe, and “not nutritionally different from other foods,” citing “overwhelming weight of scientific evidence” in support of that stance. This, despite the fact that the ‘overwhelming weight of scientific evidence’ comes from research funded by big AG, with Monsanto at its helm, and ignoring the toxicity of the huge amounts of pesticides and herbicides sprayed on GMO crops.
References
- Campbells announcement: campbellsoupcompany.com/newsroom/news/2016/01/07/labeling
- OCA article: organicconsumers.org/blog/campbell’s-will-label-gmos—and-sky-will-not-fall