GMO labeling fight was between factions of food industry, not industry vs. consumer

[R]oughly 90% of survey respondents support mandatory GMO labeling. Consumers want to know. But the typical response when consumers want to know something about a desirable product is for companies to tell them. . . . If consumers want to know that products contain no GMOs, companies can always just voluntarily say so. But companies are worried that if their competitors say “GMO Free” and they don’t, then consumers will infer something bad about their product. . . And, it turns out, they may be right.

. . . .

[T]here is a lot of money at stake for the food industry, and it understands that consumers have an aversion to GMOs. But it is a mistake to think the labeling fight is about the food industry versus consumers. In reality, it is about one segment of the food industry versus another. Companies that have sourced non-GE materials stand to profit from a rigorous labeling regime; those who have not stand to lose. . . .

[Mr. Ansolabahere is a government professor at Harvard. Mr. Gersen is a professor and directs Harvard Law School’s Food Law Lab.]

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post: The GMO Labeling Fight Is Not Industry Versus Consumers

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