US: Voluntary GMO labeling garners potato support

While national produce groups are sitting on the sideline, several potato associations are among nearly 500 food groups urging the House of Representatives to pass the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act, which calls for voluntary labeling of GMO food products. The legislation, introduced earlier this year by U.S. Reps. Mike Pompeo, R-Kan., and G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., creates a food labeling standard that informs consumers while preventing the “confusion and costly price spikes associated with a patchwork of state labeling laws,” according to a news release from the Coalition for Safe and Affordable Food. Potato industry support of the legislation comes in the wake of last year’s USDA approval of Innate, genetically modified potato varieties designed by the J.R. Simplot Co. for low-acrylamide potential and reduced black spot bruising. More