If you want to know what’s in your food, from calories and saturated fat, to high fructose corn syrup and artificial coloring, you read the label. Labeling for GMOs, however, is not required in the U.S. GMOs, or genetically modified organisms, are organisms whose genetic material is altered- often in order to grow larger and faster, repel pests, or endure herbicides. Globally, more than 60 countries including Japan, Australia and nations within the European Union require labeling of GMOs. In the U.S many companies voluntarily use Non-GMO labels to gain customers. With roughly 90% of Americans in support of mandatory labeling of GMO foods a mandatory labeling law ought to be good news. But many consumers don’t think it is, and here’s why: the new policy actually hinders transparency of foods labels.

Back in 2016, on July 29 President Obama signed the national bioengineered food disclosure standard S.764, which required labeling GMOs on food packaging. This law was nicknamed the DARK Act– “Denying Americans the Right to Know”- by critics because it imposed weak labeling requirements. It included no penalty for noncompliance and it gave companies the power to determine what information is disclosed and how. For example, use of 1-800 numbers, URLs, or QR codes that digitally link consumers to information were acceptable in lieu of listing ingredients on packaging. Such indirect new labeling methods require use of a smartphone and cell phone service. Critics estimate that this would disproportionately impact more than 100 million rural, minority, low income, and elderly people.

Implementation of this standard had been extremely slow, but on May 3, 2018, the United Stated Department of Agriculture (USDA) published a long-awaited proposal for regulations on mandatory disclosure of GMOs that implements the 2016 law. This 106-page rule will go into effect January 1, 2020 once finalized and is the final step in securing federal level GMO food labeling requirements in the US.

But critics point to numerous problems with the rule. The term GMO, which is consumer-friendly and recognizable, will be replaced by “bioengineered” or “bioengineered food ingredient.” This narrowly defined term brings into question what types of genetic altering must be labeled. The draft contains loopholes about what is exempt from disclosure. Additionally, a new symbol that looks like a smiling sun will be used, which gets consumers to associate products with happiness.

The rule is meant to boost transparency but is actually quite vague. Erasing GMO labels gives corporate agri-business and the biotechnology industry– both of which are heavily invested in GMO products – a long sought victory. This business advantage, however, comes at the expense of informing consumers.

There is opposition to government mandated food labeling. It rests primarily in concern for pricing and the complexity of managing changes along the supply chain. Yet, despite these industry concerns, food labels serve important roles in providing vital information relating to decisions consumers make every day about the food their families consume.Labels cover a broad range of food-related concerns such as animal, human, and environmental welfare, and nutritional value. GMOs need to be labeled so that consumers can make informed purchasing decisions.

A key tenet of Environmental health literacy is that people should have access to accurate and assessible information related to the safety of what they consume, whether it involves air, water, or food. We need greater transparency, not less, in making scientific information understandable and accessible to the public. The proposed draft rule boosts secrecy and confusion. Jargoned language, feel-good images, and high-tech labeling move us in precisely the wrong direction in helping others and ourselves better understand connections between human health and environmental policies and practices. We all deserve to know what we are eating.

The public commenting period closed on July 3. Still, there are actions we can take in support of accurate, accessible, helpful, and mandatory labeling that safeguards the public’s right to know.

1. The Center for Food Safety, a non-profit public interest environmental advocacy group dedicated to protecting human health and the environment, clearly lays out the proposed labeling rule and provides ways to take action.
2. The “Just Label It Campaign” believes in the right to know what is in our food. Its website has a good F.A.Q page about GMOs and offer nine easy action steps such as writing to Congress, petitioning the USDA, sharing resources about choosing products, and learning labels to look for.
3. Food and Water Watch is an organization that works to promote healthy food and clean water. It gives citizens tools to fight back against “corporations that put profit ahead of people.” Learn more about their local work, sign their petition, and support their national campaigns.