Source: Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE, 3/29/16

With the issue and media coverage of it picking up steam, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack continues to stump for mandatory labeling on foods containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Among his latest pitches was an interview with the Chicago Tribune at the city’s Good Food Festival. His most recent remarks follow the stalling of a Senate bill that would block states from mandating such labels while Vermont’s law is set to take effect in July, and come as major food companies begin to put such labels on their products.

“I really think [a mandatory standard is] the only way to deal with this,” Vilsack told the Tribune. “This has to be mandated. And I think frankly that food companies recognize that and that's why so many food companies have come out since the failure of the Senate bill to say, OK, fine, we're going to put a label on it to comport with Vermont law.”

Vilsack expressed disappointment that the issue has divided the agricultural community, and hope that there will be compromise.

“I think there are very valid reasons for consumers to have information,” he is quoted as saying. “I think there are also concerns that if the information is conveyed in a particular way it sends the wrong message about the safety of the product. And I think there's deep concern on the part of food companies and producers that if you send that wrong message you create a circumstance where we will have issue with the costs or supply of food that are unnecessary. Because there is no scientific evidence to suggest that GMO food is unsafe to consume. You may not agree with the process. You may have disagreements about the science in terms of what's better for the land and so forth. But at the end of the day, it's not about food safety.”

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