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While some food labels already say whether a product contains GMO ingredients, Oregon voted Nov. 4 to decide whether to make such labels mandatory.

(Associated Press/file photo)

UPDATE: Measure 92, GMO-labeling initiative, fails narrowly

Measure 92, Oregon's mandatory GMO-labeling initiative, remained too close to call Tuesday.

As of 2 a.m. Wednesday, with nearly 80 percent of votes counted, the measure trailed 49 percent to 51 percent. But most of the votes yet to be counted were in Multnomah County, where about 61 percent of voters favor labeling.

GMO labeling picked up early support in relatively urban counties such as Multnomah, Lane, Benton and Jackson. Voters throughout much of rural Oregon opposed the initiative. Washington and Clackamas counties also were leaning against labeling.

Spending for and against the controversial proposal has shattered all records for Oregon ballot measures.

Opponents alone pumped in more than $20 million in an effort to prevent Oregon from being the first state to enact a voter-approved GMO labeling law. Backers of the measure raised more than $8 million – also a record for any "yes" side in an Oregon ballot measure campaign.

Vermont's Legislature passed a GMO-labeling law this spring, but it's now on hold pending a legal challenge from opponents.

Both sides fashioned campaign themes placing Oregon at the center of a national debate on food labeling.

The Yes on 92 campaign argued that the public has a right to know when it comes to buying foods containing genetically engineered ingredients.

GMO-labeling spending in Oregon

The No on 92 Coalition countered that labeling will increase food costs and tell consumers little, since foods sold at restaurants and all meat and dairy products would not require GMO labeling.

Neither side could be reached for comment Tuesday night.

If Measure 92 passes, it won't take effect until January 2016. It would require retailers of genetically engineered raw food to include labels with the words "Genetically Engineered" prominently displayed on the front or back of a package.

It would also require manufacturers of packaged food produced entirely or partially by genetic engineering to include "Produced with Genetic Engineering" or "Partially Produced with Genetic Engineering" on packages.

Regardless of the outcome in Oregon, the food-labeling debate is far from over. Nearly 90 bills in 29 states addressing labeling have been introduced during 2014 alone.

Similar measures were defeated in California in 2012 and in Washington in 2013. Combined spending, when Oregon's totals are lumped in with those two states' campaigns, exceeds $100 million.

--Dana Tims

Molly Young of The Oregonian contributed to this report.