The Organic Consumers Association (OCA), which campaigns for health and justice, rallied people from across the United States to demand that mandatory labeling be enforced for all foods with GMO ingredients in every US state.
"Certainly what we want to see and we'll continue to fight for is mandatory labeling on all foods with GMOs across the country," OCA consultant Charlotte Warren told Sputnik.
"We're seeing progress state by state. Connecticut and Maine have passed bills that do require mandatory [GMO] labeling. They [the GMO labelling bills] are happening state by state and county by county but we would like to see this in our entire country like so many other countries have," she said.
"We hope Congress hears us — this is a law that should not be passed. It is unconstitutional, you can't strip states of the right to pass laws like this," an organizer at the OCA Katherine Paul told Sputnik. "So, we hope that congress hears us and that this bill goes nowhere."
While on the ground at the Wednesday protests, Paul said to Sputnik that a number of speakers would talk throughout the events that would last through the afternoon, while some would attend the subcommittee hearing on the bill.
If Pompeo's bill is passed, the US Food and Drug Administration would have the right to determine labeling requirements for foods with GMOs. But groups like the OCA that are against the bill argue that states and local municipalities should have the right to pass food labeling laws on their own.
Maine, Connecticut and Vermont are US states that have passed stand-alone GMO labeling laws, however, the OCA says that these laws cannot be enacted unless as many as five neighboring states also pass mandatory GMO labeling laws. If the bill is passed, it would make it likely impossible for stand-alone GMO labeling laws to succeed.
Sixty countries around the world require manufacturers to label foods containing GMO ingredients, while the United States and Canada do not require mandatory GMO labeling.
