Genetically Engineered Food – Passage

Passage of a bill that would require the Agriculture Department to establish a voluntary national genetically engineered (GE) food certification program under which food producers could label their product as including or not including genetically modified ingredients. The program created under the bill would pre-empt related state and local laws and prohibits mandatory labeling of GE or non-GE food. Additionally, the bill would also require the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to continue to make determinations regarding the food safety of GE foods, would require the Agriculture Department to establish a notification process before GE plants can be used or applied to the processing of foods, and would modify the process for labeling natural foods.