The lawsuit, filed Thursday by a coalition of food industry groups including the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) and the Snack Food Association, is “the first of what may be a series of lawsuits to block labeling requirements for products containing genetically modified organisms, or GMOs,” Bloomberg reported.
VLS food and agriculture law and policy experts available for immediate comment on the challenge to Vermont’s GMO-labeling law are:
- Laura Murphy, associate director of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic and assistant professor of law, 802-831-1123 (office),lmurphy@vermontlaw.edu. Murphy has been working with Vermont public interest groups on the legal justifications for a GMO-labeling law since 2012.
- Laurie Beyranevand, associate director of the Center for Agriculture and Food Systems and associate professor of law, 802-831-1030,lbeyranevand@vermontlaw.edu
“I can tell you that the GMA’s assertion that the law has no basis in health, safety, or science is patently false,” Beyranevand told the Christian Science Monitor. “The law recognizes that there aren’t any long-term independent studies that haven’t been funded by industry which establish the health and safety of genetically engineered foods.”
“To that end, the law gives consumers the ability to determine if that is a risk they are willing to pay for,” Beyranevand said.