State labeling initiatives

This article was originally published in August 2014

Two more GMO labeling initiatives appear headed for the ballot this November.

Supporters in Oregon turned in more signatures than the number needed to qualify. Signature-gathering also is underway in Colorado, where the campaign is on target, at press time, to submit the necessary number of signatures.

Legislatures in three East Coast states — Vermont, Connecticut and Maine — already have passed GE labeling bills in the past year.

Meanwhile, the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) has lost a bid to toss out Washington state’s money-laundering lawsuit.

Washington’s attorney general, Bob Ferguson, charged the Washington, D.C. lobbying firm with laundering millions of dollars in last fall’s campaign to label genetically engineered (GE) foods, saying it’s the largest amount of money ever concealed in a state election.

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