Well, that’s it.

The House of Representatives just passed the DARK Act, sending this fake GMO labeling bill to Obama’s desk to sign—or veto—as early as this afternoon.

Sadly, the White House has indicated that President Obama is ready to sign this sham of a GMO labeling bill into law! 

Can you call President Obama right now and urge him to veto the DARK Act?

Call President Obama and urge him to veto this sham of a labeling bill
Call 202-456-1111 or 202-456-1414 to leave your comment! 
The comment line is open from 9am - 5pm ET Monday throughFriday

When you call, you can say something like: 

“I urge President Obama to veto the sham GMO labeling bill heading to his desk from the House. The FDA has commented that this bill would not even cover most current GMO foods. So it is a non-labeling bill masquerading as a labeling bill. The bill is also profoundly discriminatory. Instead of mandating clear on-package labels, this bill gives corporations the power to hide GE labeling behind digital QR codes that can only be read by smart phones. But Only 64 percent of Americans own a smartphone. That means that more than a third of all Americans will not be able to use this form of labeling. Moreover, those left out are mainly low income and rural Americans, which will disproportionately impact minorities. 

We need a GMO labeling law that actually applies to all the GE foods in the marketplace and that assures the right to know of every American. Please veto this discriminatory and poorly written bill. Send it back to Congress until they get it right.”

Then let us know you called

This sham of a bill creates a GMO labeling scheme that will immediately override the state GMO labeling laws passed in Vermont, Connecticut and Maine, but will not require any labeling for 2 years, while USDA comes up with some vague labeling standard using QR codes for smartphones, websites, or 1-800 numbers.

Big Ag and food companies have made it clear which option they support for labeling: QR codes. They know consumers don’t use these codes and that “labeling” via QR codes is really no labeling all. But QR codes are not just burdensome, they’re discriminatory.

Only 64% of Americans own a smartphone.¹ That means that more than a third of all Americans will not be able to access GMO information if products are labeled with QR codes. Moreover, those left out are disproportionately low income and those living in rural areas. According to Pew Research Center, only50% of low income people in the U.S. own a smartphone; only 52% of rural Americansown a smartphone; and only27% of seniors own a smartphone.² Even those who do own smartphones are not guaranteed consistent access to the internet.³

At the end of the day, a substantial majority of Americans would be deprived of their right to know if GMO labeling were done through QR codes.

When President Obama was running for office in 2008, he promised he’d label GMOs as President. This is President Obama’s last chance to get GMO labeling right – by vetoing this sham labeling bill and supporting mandatory words on the package.

Call President Obama NOW and tell him to veto this fake GMO labeling bill - Call 202-456-1111 or 202-456-1414

Thanks for everything you do,
The Center for Food Safety team

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1. http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/01/us-smartphone-use-in-2015/ 
2. http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/01/chapter-one-a-portrait-of-smartphone-ownership/ 
3. http://www.zdnet.com/article/the-state-of-lte-4g-networks-worldwide-in-2014-and-the-poor-performance-of-the-us/