- PORTLAND, Ore. (Reuters)
- Oregon voters on Tuesday roundly rejected a ballot initiative that would
have required labels on food containing genetically engineered material,
handing a victory to big food producers and biotechnology researchers.
-
- Early returns showed more than 73% of voters rejecting
Measure 27 compared with 27% in favor, prompting local media outlets to
declare that the initiative, which would have produced the first such labeling
law in the country, had been defeated.
-
- Campaign finance reports showed the food industry and
other opponents raised more than $5 million to combat the initiative. Much
of the money went to advertisements warning of the higher costs it would
bring to restaurants, grocery stores and school cafeterias.
-
- "Oregonians have resoundingly rejected the efforts
of the proponents of Measure 27 to scare people about the foods they eat,"
said Pat McCormick, spokesman for the Coalition Against the Costly Labeling
Law. "I think it affirms their confidence in (Food and Drug Administration)
regulation of foods in this country."
-
- Genetic modification, in which DNA is transferred from
one organism to another, can boost farm yields, protect against diseases
and provide other benefits. It is used in some 70% of processed food in
the United States as well as animal feeds.
-
- Advocates argue GM foods reduce the use of pesticides
and chemical fertilizers, while opponents question the safety of what some
have derisively called "frankenfoods."
-
- Initiative supporters vowed to press the labeling issue,
despite the setback.
-
- "I don't consider it a loss. We may lose this election
but this is just the beginning of a movement here in Oregon and across
the nation," the measure's chief petitioner, Donna Harris, told Reuters.
- <http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=healthnews&StoryID=1688070>
|
