Iowa is playing center stage in a global debate over whether people should be warned when the genetic makeup of their food has been altered.

A national advocacy group believes consumers would demand that genetically modified foods be labeled if they knew just how much is being changed in labs. The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods is pushing presidential candidates to support making labeling the law – with some success.

Leading Democrats Hillary Clinton and John Edwards agree to the organization’s proposal, as do candidates Bill Richardson and Dennis Kucinich. Top Republican candidates have not taken positions.

“We want to make food safety a defining issue of this election,” said Anne Dietrich, the Fairfield, Ia.-based executive director of the campaign. “Once this becomes the law of the land, then Monsanto, Syngenta, Kraft and Kellogg’s will reformulate their products. Iowa is the best place to start.”

But the group’s efforts have met resistance from Iowa industry leaders and global experts in genetic engineering. Many of them are gathered in Des Moines this week for the World Food Prize, an event that honors innovations in increasing the world’s food supply.

While Dietrich and her supporters argue that genetically engineered foods threaten human health and the environment, biotechnology leaders say the foods are safe and vital to feeding the world, especially amid growing demand for crop-based biofuels.

James Greenwood, a speaker at the event and president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, said opponents of genetic engineering use scare tactics.

“They hope by using these scare tactics they can persuade policymakers to alter labeling, and they can use the label to drive people away…”

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