All the Americans who marched, wrote congressional representatives and senators, and voted for state laws demanding GMO labels feel betrayed by the US Senate. Ignoring public demands and desires, the Senate voted on July 7, 2016 with a 63-30 in favor of what’s been called the DARK Act (Deny Americans the Right to Know).

The roll call can be viewed on the government website, revealing to the public which Senators voted in favor of the DARK Act and which ones represented the American will by voting against the bill. The stats also include the names of the 7 Senators who didn’t vote (1).

According to Natural News and others, the DARK Act (S.764) bill is “in direct violation of the Tenth Amendment” (2).

Cornell University Law School explains that the Tenth Amendment to the Bill of Rights ensures, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people” (3).

The DARK Act prevents states from mandating GMO labeling. Natural News reports that the majority of GMO foods will be exempt from labeling. State laws passed demand proper GMO labeling to accurately alert consumers that the foodstuff is either GMO or contains GMO ingredients (4).









Only Smartphones Will Show GMO Labels

Those foods that aren’t exempt will have labels with “smart” codes (QR codes) that can be scanned by smartphone owners. If you don’t have a smart phone and haven’t downloaded the QR code software that can scan the codes, you’ll be out of luck and in the dark about buying GMO foods.

According to Label GMOS, the statistics for those being able to use this feature reveal the DARK Act law is discriminatory (5).

The statistics of the survey taken of smartphone users include:

–> 21% of Americans have scanned QR codes on their smart phones

–> 27% of seniors own smartphones

–> 50% of low income Americans own smartphones.

–> 42% of African Americans had to let smartphone services lapse

–> 36% of Latinos had to let smartphone service lapse

Not included in these figures are the people who do not own a smartphone for their cell phone coverage.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reviewed the draft of the bill and made several recommendations. According to Andrew Kimbrell, Center for Food Safety executive director, “The FDA critique makes it very clear that this is really a non-labeling bill disguised as a labeling bill.” The FDA warned in its review that the wording of the bill could create confusion among the food industry itself (6).

The FDA complained that the DARK Act would prevent the enforcement of laws for proper labeling. According to the Smithsonian Magazine, “The bill also instructs the FDA to exclude animals that feed on GMO crops, such as cows fed GMO corn, from being labeled as GMO products” (7).

In July 2015, EcoWatch reported that the bill would prevent the FDA from requiring GE (Genetically Engineered) food labeling. In addition, the bill would allow the continued use of “natural” on foods that were either GE or contain GE ingredients (8).