Monsanto’s friends in Congress will try to slip a version of the DARK Act (H.R. 1599), the bill that would Deny Americans the Right to Know about GMOs, into the end-of-year appropriations bill.
The appropriations bill, essentially a budget bill, must pass by midnight December 11. Or the federal government will shut down.
Stopping this sneak attack on GMO labeling is even more urgent now that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved GMO salmon.
Contrary to FDA claims, the AquAdvantage® salmon is not the same as farmed salmon that has not been genetically engineered. Developed in a laboratory by inserting the genes of a Chinook salmon and eelpout (an eel-like fish) into an Atlantic salmon, “frankenfish” is less nutritious than normal salmon, more likely to trigger an allergy, and could increase cancer risks by raising levels of IGF-1, a hormone linked to prostate, breast and colon cancers in humans.
Right now, the only states where GMO salmon will have to be labeled are Alaska and Vermont. But those laws could be wiped out by a last-minute “sneak attack” rider to the appropriations bill preempting states from enacting laws on any foods containing GMOs, including frankenfish.
Read our letter to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture