Comparison of food-labelling laws of products containing GMOs in the European Union and the United States - Research Paper Example

There has been a debate in whether manufacturers of GMOs should be forced to label their produce as GMO products. In the USA, many manufacturers of GMOs have argued against this idea saying that it would only cause unnecessary fear and speculation from the consumers. In light of this, the European Union and the United States of America have been in the front line in ensuring that these organisms have been regulated in both countries especially the foods to certify them for human consumptions (Albert 2).

In European Union, Genetically Modified Organisms are mostly combined with irradiated foods which further categorize them as the type of foods that require evaluation from the food safety in the country such as the European Food Safety Authority(EFSA) (Princen 215). However, the EFSA must seek authorization from the European Commission , who have the mandate of writing down the proposal in reference to denying or granting the authorisation of the GMOs in their market. Of importance to note is that the European Commission may take a substantial period of time depending on the type of GMOs that have been put under scrutiny.

According to the country’s regulation, the European Commission ensures that cases revolving GMOs are thoroughly investigated and confirmed especially those that need Safeguard clauses and temporary restriction. Similarly, the United States have taken the initiative of ensuring that Genetically Modified Organism (GMOs) are identified through labelling to provide a clear understanding of the organisms especially foods that are mostly used by human beings. In essence, the effects of the GMOs brought concern to product that were said to have ingredients that genetically modified.

Apparently, people in the United States of America have constituently pushed for the initiation of food labelling laws due to the assumption that most GMOs are argued to cause cancer and other chronic diseases. Nevertheless, food labelling law in the country have continually reduced fear among the people as it ensures that it is easy to differentiate between organisms that genetically modified and those that are not (Elderidge 133). However, laws regarding food labelling in the United States have met constant opposition usually fuelled by manufacturers of GMOs and junk food.

For instance, in a state wide election in California in the 6th of November last year, a law called the proposition 36 was rejected in California. It is believed that the manufacturers of junk food and GMOs spend over $46 million to defeat the proposition. In Europe, the issue of labelling seems to be taken more seriously than in USA. For instance, in Europe, any food product that has a little as 0.9 percent of GM material has by law be labelled. This is not the same in USA. Of importance is that the senate in the United States of America have continually debated on this issue with the Vermont House argues to have passed a controversial bill that was said to require labelling of foods with GMOs.

Fortunately, the bill gained enormous support from twenty seven other states. Although, a tag of war was witnessed when three of the senate disputed the labelling of the product, a group of advocates affirmed that consumers have the right to know the kind of foods that they were using in terms of whether they were