GMO food labeling needed for our health

Just as food manufacturers opposed laws to print nutrition facts on the food we buy at supermarkets, now they are spending millions of dollars to kill ballot measures that would mandate the labeling of foods with genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

This is no small matter for the Big Food lobby. The Grocery Manufacturers Association said in 2012 that defeating Proposition 37 in California was its “single highest priority,” and they weren’t kidding. The GMA spent $45 million to kill the measure.

The reality is labeling GMOs has enormous public support. Some 93 percent of Americans think genetically modified foods should be identified. Around the world, 64 countries — including 15 countries in the European Union, Japan, Australia, Brazil, Russia and China — have already passed GMO labeling laws.

Illinoisans deserve to know what is in our foods. Sen. Dick Durbin and Sen. Mark Kirk should show they side with consumers and co-sponsor legislation in Congress to label GMO foods.

Dev Gowda

Darien