CORNELL UNIVERSITY MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICEOct. 21, 2015
Cornell expert says GMO labels should not be alarmist
David Just, co-director of the Cornell University Center for Behavioral Economics in Child Nutrition Programs, weighed in on today’s hearing in the Senate agriculture committee over whether states can mandate that food containing genetically engineered crops must be labeled. Just believes that while labeling GMOs is not a problem, it is dangerous to use labels to alarm and mislead people about food safety.
Just says:
“I am glad Congress is considering this issue. There is a danger in states creating labels that mislead consumers into being afraid of something we know to be safe. That is not to say that we can’t label GMOs, just that the labels shouldn’t alarm those who are not opposed to GMOs for concerns that don’t relate to food safety.
“Many GMOs offer big benefits especially to farmers in developing countries. It would be terrible if we created an artificial barrier to those benefits by unnecessarily scaring consumers away from safe and reasonably priced food.”
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