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The New Hampshire House voted this week to kill the state’s GMO labeling initiative. In a 185 to 162 vote, opponents of the bill ruled over with arguments that labeling would hurt business owners.

“There’s a lot of hysterical momentum behind this anti-GMO movement,” said Jim Parison, a New Hampshire State Representative. “It’s sort of like an angry mob seeking justice for a crime just by lynching the first possible suspect.”


Parison noted via the Concord Monitor that labeling would not “not necessarily protect consumers, and it would hurt business owners.”

While the loss is unsettling, perhaps it can be partially attributed to the industry’s tactics in New Hampshire over the past several months.

As revealed by Michele Simon, a public health lawyer reporting via the Huffington Post, the Grocery Manufacturers Association, among other food industry groups, handed out two documents at the doors of last week’s House of Representatives meeting:

“Collection of media quotes taken out of context, including from the New York Times and the conservative National Review.” Two others were op-eds written by industry lobbyists, but you can’t tell from looking at the handout. One, from an op-ed published in the local paper, was written by John Dumais. But the handout left out a tiny detail: Mr. Dumais is CEO of the New Hampshire Grocers Association, which might explain why he’s opposed to the bill. The other op-ed was penned by Mike Somers, CEO of the New Hampshire Lodging and Restaurant Association. Mr. Somers’ title was also conveniently left out. Maybe that’s because it makes no sense for the restaurant industry to weigh in since they are exempt from the bill. But that didn’t stop the trade group from claiming that the “‘GMO labeling requirement would wreak havoc on New Hampshire restaurants.’” “A list of deceptive arguments, recycling the scaremongering that deceived voters in California and Washington State, including higher food prices, ‘state bureaucracy,’ and ‘burdens’ on local farmers and businesses. The list of groups opposed is padded with several industries that aren’t even impacted by the bill, including: the Granite State Brewers Association, the Wine Institute, the Pet Food Institute, the New Hampshire Lodging and Restaurant Association, and the Consumer Healthcare Products Association. Also on the opposed list are the Grocery Manufacturers Association and the Biotechnology Industry Organization.”

In addition, a full page advertisement ran recently in local newspapers. The advertisements made many of the same arguments listed in the documents above.


The GMA, which represents major food companies from Coca-Cola to PepsiCo to Nestle, is no stranger to questionable tactics. The group has been accused with everything from trying to permit the labeling of GMO foods as natural to attempting to crush GMO labeling state efforts.

Unfortunately, with the voting down of the GMO labeling bill in New Hampshire’s House, it seems the industry groups have won a battle. This, of course, is just one of many battles in the overall war for transparency in food labels: the battlefield is just heating up, and we can still take action!

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