Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), a senior member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, released the following statement upon voting against a measure that would have blocked food labeling requirements that identify ingredients containing genetically modified organisms (GMO).
”Every day I try to take 10,000 steps and watch what I eat. I didn’t always. But throughout my life, I have learned to appreciate the value knowing where my food comes from and what my family and I eat. This is one of the foremost reasons that I believe in American consumers’ rights to know the true contents of their foods and support federal-level requirements providing for GMO labeling. I also appreciate that food producers need clarity and certainty in the regulatory realm, so I see well-crafted federal guidance on GMO labeling requirements as a key to avoiding the confusion that a patchwork of state standards could create. The recent proposal rejected by the Senate would have moved us in the wrong direction, and I applaud its defeat.”