Tag Archives: Genetically modified organism

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Coca-Cola

                                            Coca-Cola: Stop funding anti GMO labeling campaigns  
  By Ocean Robbins and the Food Revolution Network
                                                Soquel, California

The public just learned that Coca-Cola has secretly contributed more than a million dollars to campaign against the labeling of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). In addition to its soft drinks, the company owns many brands marketed as healthier alternatives, including Honest Tea, Powerade, Odwalla, Vitamin Water and Simply Orange. Coca-Cola’s CEO, Muhtar Kent, says, “We have provided a tremendous amount of choice to people.” But when it comes to your right to know how your food was produced, Coca-Cola has joined biotech giant Monsanto in trying to keep you in the dark.

In late October 2013, Coca-Cola was discovered to have made more than $1 million in secret contributions to the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA). This money went directly to the GMA’s fight against labeling of GMOs in Washington State. The Washington state Attorney General says that the GMA violated the state’s campaign disclosure laws when it bundled more than $11 million for the anti-labeling fight, while shielding the identities of the companies, led by Coca-Cola, who were donating that money.

Many companies, including Dole Food Company, and Mars, Inc., have responded to consumer pressure and stopped giving money to fight GMO labeling. We are calling on Coca-Cola to join them.

While sales of Coca-Cola’s carbonated soft drinks have recently been dropping, the company’s financial future is increasingly tied to the brands it markets as healthier, including Honest Tea, Powerade, Odwalla, Vitamin Water and Simply Orange. It’s time for company policy to respond to its customer’s growing level of health consciousness and demand for consumer choice.

Join us and sign our petition urging Coca-Cola to stop funding efforts to block the labeling of GMOs. 

For more information, visit www.cokeboycott.com.

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GMO labeling lies


AlterNet – I522 and Washington State

Zack Kaldveer, AlterNet

Here are the lies. And the facts. Please read, print, email, roll up and stuff into a bottle you launch into the sea . . . whatever it takes to spread the word that while $46 million may buy a lot of lies, it doesn’t change the facts.

1. Lie: Labeling genetically engineered foods (GMOs) will cost taxpayers millions of dollars a year.

Truth: Empirical  studies have concluded labeling would lead to no increases in prices. Since the European Union labeled GMOs in the 1990’s, there has been ” no resulting increase in grocery costs.”

Trader Joe’s, Clif Bar & Co. and Washington’s own PCC Natural Markets all  label their non-GMO product lines at no additional cost to consumers.

2. Lie: I-522 is full of arbitrary special interest exemptions that will just confuse consumers.

Truth: I-522 requires labeling for the GE foods that are most prevalent in the American diet – food on supermarket shelves. I-522’s exemptions are easy to explain and guided by common sense and the law:

  • Restaurants – Restaurants and bake sales are not required to list the ingredients in their products. Requiring labeling for GMOs would have required tracking all the ingredients in restaurant meals, and since no other laws require that, it didn’t make sense for this one to.
  • Meat, cheese, dairy and eggs from animals – These will be labeled if they come from genetically engineered animals. However, they are exempt if the animals ate genetically engineered feed but are not themselves genetically engineered. This exemption is common all around the world. It didn’t make sense for Washington’s law to be stricter than international standards.
  • Alcohol – Alcohol labeling is regulated under different laws than food at both the federal and state levels. Because of the single-subject law that requires initiatives to apply to only one subject, alcohol couldn’t be included.

3. Lie: Consumers don’t need labels to avoid GMOs. All they need to do is buy certified organic products.

Truth: Food companies routinely and intentionally mislead consumers by labeling products “natural” in order to attract health-conscious consumers. Because the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) does not prohibit the use of the word “natural” on products containing GMOs, most consumers are fooled by this label. According to a recent  poll by the Hartman group, 61 percent of respondents erroneously believed that the use of the word “natural” implies or suggests the absence of GMOs, versus 63 percent who correctly believed that the label “organic” means that a product is GMO-free. Food companies should be required, as they are in some 60 other countries, to clearly state that a product contains GMOs. If companies truly believe their GMO ingredients are perfectly safe, why spend millions to keep from having to label them?

4. Lie: Washington will be the only state in the nation to label GMOs, unfairly hurting farmers and the state’s multi-billion agricultural industry.  

Truth: Washington won’t be the only state labeling GE foods.  Connecticut, Maine and Alaska have passed labeling laws and dozens of other states are considering identical proposals. Besides, 64 countries already require labeling, so many farmers are already used to labeling for exports. In fact, many Washington farmers support labeling because they believe that growing GMO crops destroys healthy soil, and because they sell crops to overseas markets that either require labels on GMO crops, or have banned them completely. These countries are increasingly concerned about U.S. non-GMO crops, such as wheat, that could potentially be  contaminated by  cross-pollination with GMO crops.

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Update: Stop GMO salmon

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The FDA must require labeling of genetically modified salmon.
Submit your comment asking the FDA to require clear labels on GMO salmon, or better yet, ban GMO fish altogether.  


Earlier this year we let you know about the Food and Drug Administration’s impending approval of a genetically modified (GMO) strain of salmon. Over 54,000 CREDO Action members responded by telling the FDA not to approve the fish.

There are some signs that our pressure is working. At the public hearing in September several members of the advisory committee criticized the poor science submitted by AquaBounty, the company engineering the fish, and called for more rigorous scientific review before moving forward with the approval process.1

While the committee has not yet issued a recommendation on whether to approve the salmon, the FDA has opened a public comment period on labeling requirements should the organism be brought to market. We still firmly believe that AquaBounty’s application should be rejected, but we need to fight this battle on all fronts.

We have until November 22 to let the FDA know that it should not approve GMO salmon, but if it does, to enact strict labeling requirements — so consumers can at the very least make educated decisions about what they eat.

People who know anything about this salmon have good reason to be afraid. The fish is modified with genes from another species — the eelpout — so that it can grow twice as fast as normal.2

Because the FDA is reviewing the salmon application under its rules for animal drugs, there is little focus on the potential dangers of human consumption. Additionally, the FDA has not conducted any of its own research and is instead relying on information provided by AquaBounty, a company that has a financial incentive to downplay potential dangers.

There are also serious concerns about the environmental impact of the fish. Studies show that if just a few GMO salmon escaped into the wild, they could eradicate the wild Atlantic salmon population in less than 40 fish generations.3

Clearly, the FDA shouldn’t allow the fish to be produced in the first place. But if it does, the FDA should require that it be clearly labeled so we can decide on our own to keep it off our dinner plates.

The November 22 deadline is approaching. Submit your public comment today telling the FDA to enact clear labeling requirements for GMO salmon, or better yet, keep it off the market altogether.

Adam Klaus, Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working Assets

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Monsanto and Scott McAllister


SierraRise -- Why stand apart, when we can rise together?

GMO mega-corporation Monsanto wants special treatment from Congress. Make sure they don’t get it!

Tell your senators: Protect our health — not Monsanto’s profits!
No corporation is above the law!
Take action today!

Take action today!

Scott McAllister lost everything — his farm, his home, his savings. The stress attacked his heart, on top of the Parkinson’s disease he already had. All because of one giant corporation: Monsanto.
Every year, Monsanto uses a team of 75 lawyers to attack food safety and small farmers like Scott.[1] Most farmers’ only “crime”? Reusing seeds from the year before. And now this greedy corporation — the maker of Agent Orange, no less — is demanding Washington pass the Monsanto Protection Act. This bill would effectively block folks like you and me from suing them if their unregulated GMO foods make us sick.[2]
 Over 2 million people from across the globe have spoken out against genetically modified seeds (GMOs) and Monsanto’s dirty tactics.[3] Will you join this powerful grassroots movement and tell our government to put our health and environment before Monsanto’s corporate profits?
Tell Sen. Cantwell and Sen. Murray that no corporation is above the law. Together, we can raise 50,000 SierraRise voices against the Monsanto Protection Act by Monday!
Monsanto is a ruthless company that will stop at nothing to stay on top, even if it means destroying family farmers and selling toxic chemicals. It’s little surprise, then, that they would get an anonymous congressman to introduce their bill for them, with no debate and no transparency.
Monsanto has a deadly history. They’re the producer of chemicals so toxic they are known by name alone: killers like Agent Orange, DDT, and PCBs. Now, Monsanto is looking to dominate our food system with genetically modified seeds — even though a study found their corn seeds caused cancer in lab rats.[4]
Is this really a corporation we can trust with the food we give our families and put in school lunches?
Tell the Senate to put public health above Monsanto’s profits by stopping the Monsanto Protection Act today!
Our nation’s process for confirming the safety of GMO foods is already too weak — requiring little review and fraught with industry influence. If passed, the Monsanto Protection Act will only make things worse, temporarily stripping our courts of the power to stop Monsanto from selling GMO seeds recently found to be potentially dangerous. [5,6]
 Monsanto is the biggest bully in agri-business. It is clear from their tactics that they value their corporate profit over the safety of our food, our environment, and our nation’s farmers.
It is time to take a stand against Monsanto and tell our leaders that the people come before corporate bottom lines.

Tell your senators to stop the Monsanto Protection Act now!
In it together,
Ashley Allison
SierraRise Senior Campaigner

References:
[1] Cesca, Bob (2010 March 8). “Monsanto watch: Targeting American farmers with lawyers, fear and money.” Daily Finance.
[2] Grim, Ryan (2013 September 11).”House Republicans Push To Include Monsanto Protection Act In New Spending Bill.” Huffington Post.
[3] AP staff (2013 May 26). “Up to 2 million march against Monsanto.” Salon.
[4] Goldstein, Katherine and Gazelle Emami (2010 March 18). “Monsanto’s GMO Corn Linked To Organ Failure, Study Reveals.” Huffington Post.
[5] Snopes staff (2013 September 13). “Monsanto Protection Act.” Snopes.
[6] Rivas, Anthony (2013 September 13). “Monsanto Protection Act’ Extended By House Republicans For Another 3 Months; Food Advocacy Groups Decry Legislation.” Medical Daily.

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ACTION ALERT: Join the Indigenous Mobilization in Brazil!


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Help Make History!
Take Action for Indigenous Rights in Brazil!

Join the Indigenous Mobilization in Brazil!

Last week, courageous indigenous leader Mayalú Txucarramãe shared her concerns about threats to the Kayapó people and the Xingu Basin due to construction of the Belo Monte dam and recent attacks on indigenous peoples’ rights in Brazil. This week she joins her family and thousands of indigenous people from throughout Brazil in a national mobilization in defense of their constitutional rights. Take action today to show your support!

In response to a widespread attack on indigenous peoples’ rights and territories by the Brazilian Congress backed by agribusiness, mining and energy interests, Brazil’s National Indigenous Association (APIB) has called for a national mobilization until October 5th, which marks the 25th anniversary of the Brazilian Constitution guaranteeing the rights of indigenous peoples.

Let’s make sure that these rights are guaranteed.
Take action today to show your support!

The Brazilian Congress is about to consider proposals that would eliminate indigenous rights to resources in cases of “relevant public interest” and to reduce protections to indigenous territories and stop any new demarcations. This means more dams, mining and agribusiness expansion – not good for the Amazon, not good for people like Mayalú who live there…not good for me or for you living on this planet that we share.

Indigenous peoples are marching in cities across Brazil this week, meeting with congressional representatives and holding press conferences in defense of their rights and territories throughout the Amazon and beyond. Amazon Watch is on the ground with them. Wherever you are, won’t you join us?

Stand with Mayalú and indigenous peoples throughout Brazil by sending a message to President Rousseff today!

For indigenous rights and the Amazon,

Leila Salazar-Lopez
Leila Salazar-Lopez
Program Director