Was Vermont's pioneering law requiring GMO labeling much ado about nothing?
A Cornell University study has found that Vermont's law requiring labeling of food containing genetically modified ingredients, implemented on July 1, 2016, had no impact on consumers in the grocery store.
Vermont was the first state in the country to require labeling of food made with genetically modified ingredients.
"Researchers' finding showed that consumers' purchase rate of products made with GMOs didn't really change once the labeling law took effect," reported Food Dive, a food industry publication.
The conclusion reached by Cornell University researchers in their November 2021 study was the same one reached by Jane Kolodinsky, chair of the University of Vermont's Department of Community Development and Applied Economics in July 2015, before the Vermont law, passed in 2014, went into effect in 2016. Kolodinsky said her study showed "no evidence" attitudes toward GMOs are affected by labeling.
Kolodinsky's study came out days after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill introduced by then-Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kansas, saying mandatory GMO labeling laws passed in Vermont, Connecticut and Maine were unnecessary because the Food and Drug Administration had found GMOs to be safe.
In the end, President Barack Obama signed a federal law requiring GMO labeling at the end of 2016, superseding the Vermont law. Food Dive reported that since the federal law went into effect, GMO labeling has become "somewhat of a non-issue in the food and beverage industry."
"Manufacturers have been willing to comply, and the biggest complaints within the industry have been about figuring out the nuances of what needs to be labeled," Food Dive said.
Adam Monette: 'I realized a dream': What's next for Food Network baking-contest champion Adam Monette?
Dry January: These Vermont-made nonalcoholic drinks will make that easier.
Contact Dan D’Ambrosio at 660-1841 or ddambrosio@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanDambrosioVT. This coverage is only possible with support from our readers.
This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Cornell University study shows consumers undeterred by GMO labeling
