Cintron

AmandaCintron
ENC1102
ProfessorWolcott
8April2015
LiteratureReview

ThereismuchcontroversyastowhetherthecurrentpolicyofGenetically
ModifiedOrganisms(GMOs)labeling,whichisvoluntarylabelingintheUnitedStates,
isthebestapproach.EventhoughproponentsofGMOsclaimittobeperfectlysafe,
somerefusetolabelit.WhyareproponentsofGMfoodssoagainstlabelingwhenthey
areinfavorofthistechnology?Shouldnttheybeproud?Thisongoingdebatehasbeen
goingonforyearsandthereseveralgroundsformandatorylabelingandagainstit.Some
areeconomicreasonsandsomearemoralreasons.Thistopicisverycontroversial
becausepeopledesiremoretransparency,howeverthiscangointomorecomplextopics.
Also,GMfoodsarerepeatedlyclaimedtobesafe.Howeververyrecently,300qualified,
independentscientistscametogethertodevelopandsignamissionstatementthatsays
thatthereisnoconsensusonthesafetyofGMfoods.Theresultsareinconclusivesothey
saythatpeopleshouldnotproclaimthataresafeorthattheyarenot.Thisdoesnotmean
thattheyhavetobestoppedbeingsold,butpeopleshouldbeabletomakeafully
informeddecisionbeforetakingtherisk.
Onereasonagainstmandatorylabelingisthatitwouldincreasecostsfor
everyone,indirectlyanddirectly.Thiscanbefordifferentreasonssuchastesting,
segregation,enforcementandlabelinganditwouldnotbecostefficientbecause

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mandatorylabelingwouldimposecostsonamajoritytobenefitasmallminority(Beales,
etal.,2000;Huffman&McCluskey,2014;Carteretal.2003;Strauss,2006)However,
thestatementthataminorityofpeoplewantmandatorylabelingcanbequestionedsince
manypollssuggestthatmostpeopledo,infact,wantmandatorylabeling(Broe&Teisl,
2007;Strauss,2006;Teisl,etal.,2003)Also,somesaythatthecostswouldbeverylow,
andthatwouldbeasmallpricetopayfortheconsumerssatisfaction(Starkman,etal.,
2014).
ManysaythatlabelingGMfoodswouldunfairlystigmatizethefoodsand
heightenthemisconceptionthatthesefoodsareadangertopeopleshealth.Somegoas
fartosaythattheantagonismofthesefoodswillpreventthistechnologyfromdeveloping
andwewillnotenjoythebenefitsfromit.HoweverGurianSherman(2009)providesa
study,whichisthefirstofitskind,thatsuggeststhattheseproclaimedbenefitsmightin
factnotbetrue.Hisfindingssuggestthattheclaimgeneticengineering(GE)increases
cropyieldsisnottrueandhesaysthatdevelopingcountriesactuallybenefitmorefrom
traditionaltechniquesthanbiotechtechniquesbecauseoftheirlackofresources.
ThemainreasonforGMOlabelingisconsumersrighttoknow(Appleton,
2000;Bealesetal.,2000;Dahl,2012).Thistransparencywillallowconsumerstomakea
fullyinformeddecision.However,theFDAdeemsthemodificationprocessofGMOnot
materialnecessarytobedisclosedbecauseitdoesntpresentanydifferencesthanfood
developedbytraditionalbreedinganditdoesnotposesafetyconcernordifference.It
mayevensuggestdifferencesthatdontexistandmisleadratherthaninform

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costumers,thusthislabeldoesnotpresentanyrelevantinformation(Baileyetal.,
2001;Beales,etal.,2000).Thisalsoleadstotheoneofthemaingroundsagainst
mandatorylabeling:Mandatorylabelingwilltakeawayconsumerchoiceratherthan
provideit.
Oneofthemaingroundsagainstmandatorylabelingistheclaimthatitwilltake
awayconsumerchoice.Oneoftheallegedreasonsforthisisbecauseitwouldunfairly
stigmatizeGMOlabeledfoodsandtheresultwouldbeGMlabeledfoodtobestopped
beingsoldaltogether,thustakingawayconsumerchoice.Forexample,GMOlabeled
foodsarenotavailableinEuropebecauseretailersstoppedsellingtheminordertonot
drivecustomersawayCarter:MostfoodprocessorssellingintotheEuropeanUnion(EU)
andJapanhaveshiftedingredientsawayfromGMduetoperceivedpressurefrom
consumersandretailers.Thus,theirdecisioniswhatwilldeterminetheoutcomesofany
foodlabelingpolicy.Itwilllieintheirhands,notintheconsumers.Severalauthors
usedtheexampleoftheEUandJapansayingthatiftheUSimplementedthemandatory
labelingpolicy,GMfoodwouldstopbeingprovidedbyretailers.Thentherewouldbeno
consumerchoiceandthisoptionwouldonlyserveasmallnumberofpeople(Appleton,
2015)(Baileyetal.,2001;Beales,etal.,2000;Carter,2003;Huffman&McCluskey,
2014;ScientificAmerican,2000).
Inmyresearch,IonlyfoundtheexamplesoftheEUandJapan,whensomany
countriesaroundhavepoliciesthatlabelGE(GeneticallyEngineered)foods.Itwouldbe
usefultostudyseveralofthosecountriestoseehowtheirsaleshavechangedsincethe

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implementationofthelabelingpolicies.Thenbytheobservedthesetrends,wewouldsee
ifthemainclaimagainstlabeling,takesawayconsumerchoice,isaccurateornot.
PeoplewhoopposelabelingalwaysusetheexamplesofEUandJapansdecreaseinGM
foods.Thiswouldbeastepcloserdecidinghowtoapproachthedecisionofmandatory
labelingornot.Ifthisclaimisdebunked,itmaychangetheopinionofmanypeoplesince
thisisthemainreasonofGMlabelingopposition.
Awaytoconductthisinvestigationofwhetherlabelingtakesawayconsumer
choiceornot,wouldbetostudythesalesofcertainstaplegoodsthatareorganicand
somethatareGMOlabeledbeforeandaftertheimplementationofthelabelingpolicy.I
wouldhavetodoitforatleasthalfofthesecountriesthathavethispolicy,becausethe
largerthepoolofsamples,themoreaccuratemydata.Inadditiontostudyingcertain
foodproducts,studyinghowmanyretailersandfoodprocessorskeptsellingGMOfoods
couldgiveusefulinformation.
Awaytotakethisevenfurtherwouldbetotrytodeterminesomefactorsthat
affectthesetrends.Forexample,IcouldcomparecountrieswhereGMOfoodsaleshave
declinedwiththosethathavenotdeclinedmuchoratall.Icouldresearchtheirpopular
media,suchasnewspapers,toseewhatthegeneralpublicsattitudeistowardthis.
AnotherthingIcouldstudyisthecontentthatisonthelabelstoseeifthereisan
associationwithlabelcontentandthedecreaseorpreservationinnumberofsales.This
wouldbehelpful,ifmandatorylabelingisimplemented,todecidewhatshouldgoonthe
labelandhowtoeducatepeopleonthetopic.

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Workscited

Appleton,ArthurE."TheLabelingOfGMOProductsPursuantToInternationalTrade
Rules."NewYorkUniversityEnvironmentalLawJournal8.3(2000):566578.
IndextoLegalPeriodicals&BooksFullText(H.W.Wilson).Web.23Mar.2015.
Bailey,RonaldE.,andLindaM.Bolduan."Geneticallymodifiedfoods:labelingissues
aredrivingtheregulatorsandcounsel."DefenseCounselJournalJuly2001:308.
AcademicOneFile.Web.1Mar.2015

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Beales,J.Howard,III."Modificationandconsumerinformation:modernbiotechnology
andtheregulationofinformation."FoodandDrugLawJournalJan.2000:105
117.AcademicOneFile.Web.1Mar.2015
Carter,C.,Grure,G.(2003).Mandatorylabelingofgeneticallymodifiedfood:Doesit
reallyprovideconsumerchoice?TheJournalofAgrobiotechnologyManagement
andEconomics6(1&2),6870.
Dahl,Richard.ToLabelorNottoLabel:CaliforniaPreparestoVoteonGenetically
EngineeredFoods.EnvironmentalHealthPerspectives120.9(2012):a358
a361.PMC.Web.1Mar.2015.
Gurian-Sherman, Doug. Failure to Yield: Evaluating the Performance of
Genetically Engineered Crops.Cambridge, MA:USC Publications,
2009. Web.
Hilbeck,Angelika,etal."NoScientificConsensusOnGMOSafety."Environmental
SciencesEurope27.1(2015)
Huffman,W.E.,&McCluskey,J.J.(2014).TheeconomicsoflabelingGMfoods.The
JournalofAgrobiotechnologyManagementandEconomics,17(2),156160.
"LabelsforGMOFoodsAreaBadIdea."ScientificAmerican20Aug.2013.
Roe,B.,MarioF.Teisl,Geneticallymodifiedfoodlabeling:Theimpactsofmessageand
messengeronconsumerperceptionsoflabelsandproducts,FoodPolicy,Volume
32,Issue1,February2007,Pages4966.

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Starkman, Naomi, and Tim Marvin. "GMO Labeling Will Cost Consumers
Less than a Penny a Day, New Report Says." Consumers Union. 1
Oct. 2014. Web. 20 Mar. 2015.
Strauss,DebraM."Geneticallymodifiedorganismsinfood:amodeloflabelingand
monitoringwithpositiveimplicationsforinternationaltrade."International
LawyerSpring2006:95119.AcademicOneFile.Web.21Mar.2015.
Teisl,M.F.,Garner,L.,Roe,B.,&Vayda,M.E.(2003).Labelinggeneticallymodified
foods:HowdoUSconsumerswanttoseeitdone?AgBioForum,6(1&2),4854.