Iowa State students and faculty still disagree over whether genetically modified foods should be labeled, even though a University of Florida study says that about 60 to 70 percent of food products in retail stores contain genetically modified ingredients..

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration allows food industries to voluntary label food products with genetically modified ingredients, but no law or government policies exist to require that labeling.

“I think all the ingredients should be labeled, because now everything is labeled in food products,” said Lulu Rodriguez, ISU professor of Journalism who specializes in risk communication.

“To label like ‘It contains genetically modified ingredients,’ it’s difficult to enforce,” she said. “But it’s foolish to say you are able to get away from it, because we are eating stuff with genetically modified ingredients every day. Like now, I am eating M&Ms with peanut butter inside. I am pretty sure the peanut is genetically modified, you know, but it (the label on the M&M bag) doesn’t say.”

“It should be labeled,” said Yunting Pu, a graduate student in Genetics. “After all, GM (genetically modified) food is not traditionally grown food. Although personally it doesn’t bother me to buy food products with GM ingredients, so far there is no accurate evidence to show if undesirable consequences of GM technology could happen to human health and environment.”

Tuan Nguyen, ISU senior in Finance, agreed.

“I read labels sometimes, but I don’t care if it’s genetically modified,” he said. “If it is cheap and tastes good, I buy it.”

Although many consumers agree that genetically modified organisms should be labeled, they said the consumers have a right to know what the ingredients are in their foods. But they also said having foods that contained genetically modified organisms wouldn’t change their decision on whether to buy it.

Rodriguez argued, though, that the labeling would increase costs.

“Once it becomes mandatory by law, it increases the price of the product,” she said. “No consumer would like to pay more if it’s the same food just with several more words printed on the label.”

Monsanto provides 90 percent of the genetically modified seeds in the U.S. market.

Thomas Helscher, executive director of commercial acceptance at Monsanto, said that all of the products being grown by farmers in the United States have been reviewed by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

“I respect that people may prefer non-GM foods,” Helscher said. “It is disingenuous, however, for critics of GM to describe GM crops as experimental or unsafe. This happens, particularly on the Internet, and some of the most vocal proponents of mandatory GM labeling are organizations and companies that promote/sell non-GM products, which certainly suggests that there may be a self-serving marketing angle to their advocacy.”

“Requiring labeling for ingredients that don’t pose a health issue would undermine both our labeling laws and consumer confidence,” according to Monsanto’s website. “Mandatory labeling of food containing GM ingredients might seem like a no-brainer. However, once you consider the facts, it becomes clear there is no sense in mandatory GMO labeling.”

Talk to these people and ask them what the advantages to labeling are:

organizations and organic companies take action to increase the public awareness and to pressure US government to enforce GMO labeling. Organic Comsumer Association have actions of different kinds to call for people to take action to fight GMOs, some about GMO labeling, such as the petitions “Tell Your Grocer: We Want GMOs & Factory Farm Products Labeled!” and “Support Current Pending State Laws to Label Genetically Engineered Foods”. Stonyfield Farms CEO Gary Hirshberg launched a campaign “Just Label It” on October petitioning the FDA to require GMO labeling.