Consumer Reports hilighted GM food labeling on their Safety Blog today. Below is what they had to say about it all. This is incredible news and I hope they continue to foster dialogue and debate around this issue.

Unsafe by definition? GM/GE-free product labeling
What it is: GM/GE refers to genetically modified or genetically engineered products. GM/GE processes may be useful because they can transfer certain traits and properties from one organism to another. For example, soybeans can be given a gene that protects them from the herbicide that's sprayed on the field to kill weeds.

Why it's news: There are currently no mandatory government labeling requirements for GM/GE products. Growers and product makers are allowed to label their goods as GM-free or GE-free. At an international meeting on food labeling in Quebec City, Canada in early May, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration came out against a proposal to allow countries to adopt different approaches to labeling of GE/GM foods, as long as they are in line with existing U.N. guidelines.

The current U.S. position says mandatory labeling of food as containing GM/GE ingredients is “likely to create the impression that the labeled food is in some way different” and would therefore be “false, misleading or deceptive.” Of the approximately 60 countries present at the meeting, only Mexico, Costa Rica and Argentina supported the U.S. position to drop all work on this topic. Consumers Union and dozens of other farming, public-health, environmental and organic-food organizations recently sent a letter to the USDA and FDA warning that the U.S. position could create significant problems for American food producers who wish to convey that their products contain no GE or GM ingredients. Organic food in particular, which prohibits GM/GE ingredients, is frequently labeled ‘GE-free’ or ‘No GMOs’.

A recent CU poll found that two-thirds of consumers would be concerned if they thought that GE/GM ingredients were in organic food.