Press Releases

Congresswoman Pingree speaking at today's press conference.  Behind her are, right to left, Ben and Jerry's co-founder Jerry Greenfield and Reps. Annie Kuster, Peter DeFazio, and Peter Welch.

Standing with Ben & Jerry's founder Jerry Greenfield and executives from Stonyfield Farm, Patagonia and other major American companies, Representative Chellie Pingree called for labeling of food made with GMO ingredients and opposed Republican efforts to block labeling laws in states like Maine.

"The hardest question to answer about GMO labeling is when someone asks "what's the argument against it," Pingree said.  "The truth is, there is no argument."

Pingree said nearly all foods have labeling requirements about ingredients that are both good or bad.
"It's even the law that if orange juice is made from concentrate it must say so right there on the label—in letters at least half as tall as the name of the juice," Pingree said.

Pingree was critical of a bill introduced by Congressman Mike Pompeo (KS) that would overturn GMO labeling laws already passed by the states.  The so-called "DARK Act" also blocks any future federal or state requirements about listing GMO ingredients, and even limits the ability of the Food and Drug Administration to require that companies disclose those ingredients.

Pingree was joined by Greenfield, Representatives Peter DeFazio (OR), Annie Kuster (NH) and Peter Welch (VT), Stonyfield Farms founder Gary Hirshberg, Patagonia CEO Rose Marcario, Happy Family CEO Shazi Visram, and Josh Brau, a top executive for Chipotle.

"As all the food companies here know, we should be proud of our ingredients," Greenfield said. "We should be screaming them from the rooftops."

Pingree said the use of GMO crops that are resistant to glyphosate—the main ingredient in the herbicide Roundup—has resulted in a dramatic increase in the use of that chemical.

"The day that farmers started planting GMO crops that are resistant to glyphosate they started to use a whole lot more of it on their crops—now, it’s turning up in our food," Pingree said. 
Pingree also cited the role of widespread glyphosate use in the disappearance of milkweed in much of the country, which has resulted in a steep decline in the monarch butterfly population.

Recent surveys found that 88% of Americans support labeling of GMO products.  Sixty-four countries—ranging from Japan and the UK to Saudi Arabia and China—currently require GMO labeling.