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A federal bill could cause a food fight with states, as the bill as it stands now would preempt state GMO labeling laws. It also would give the USDA two years to devise rules telling companies how to label GMO ingredients. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders did not vote for the Senate bill. Vermont’s own mandatory GMO labeling law went into effect July 1. “It is not the business of Congress to overstep what the states have done,” Sen. Sanders said in a Fortune magazine article.

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Connecticut was the first state with a GMO labeling law in 2013, and it included a trigger clause requiring four other states, one adjacent to its borders, to enact similar legislation. Maine signed a GMO labeling law in early January 2014, but it will only become effective if four contiguous states enact similar laws, which has yet to happen. New Hampshire and Massachusetts are considering such laws. Alaska has a law to label genetically modified salmon. Maine Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King initially supported moving the Senate bill ahead in a procedural vote on July 1, but the Maine Organic Farmers and Growers Association and other groups criticized their votes, saying the federal GMO bill is weaker than laws approved by Maine’s and other state’s legislatures. In the final vote on July 7, both senators changed their vote to “nay.” Clarity or Confusion?

Most corn, soybean, and sugar crops grown in the U.S. are from genetically-engineered seeds, according to USDA, Center for Food Safety, and other sources. But the U.S. Senate bill may not consider such items bioengineered foods when used as food ingredients like beet sugar and soybean oil. GMO corn also may be exempt because of vague language, critics say.

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