> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.foodconsumer.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # What a sham - URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/what_a_sham_0707161249/ - Published: 2016-07-07T13:47:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-22T16:30:58.000Z - Description: After the Senate voted 65-32 to advance the Roberts-Stabenow GMO labeling bill, which would override Vermont's law, the group urges readers to call senators. It argues QR-code labeling shuts out the third of Americans without smartphones and delays any labeling two years. - Author: Food Consumer - Tags: Politics, #vivvo-import **Yesterday the Senate voted 65-32 to advance the sham GMO labeling bill,** from Senators Roberts (R-KS) and Stabenow (D-MI), aimed at squashing Vermont’s GMO labeling law which went into effect on Friday, July 1, 2016. **The final vote on this bill could happen as early as today! Please call your Senators immediately and urge them to oppose this sham of a bill!** **Even if you’ve already called and emailed your Senators, PLEASE CALL AGAIN! Just dial** [**1-888-894-1033**](tel:1-888-894-1033) **and we’ll connect you to your Senator for free.** When you call you can say something like: *“I urge you to reject the sham GMO labeling bill from Senators Stabenow and Roberts, Senate bill 764\. This bill takes away the rights of states to label GE foods and sticks consumers with QR code technology for smartphones or 1-800 numbers instead of clear, simple, on-package labeling. Don't hide information behind high-tech codes and phone numbers. Please oppose this bill and support mandatory on-package labeling that clearly states—in words—whether a food product is genetically engineered.”* [**Let us know you called!**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=B1dcnyf3fTIs5neLr0nNEpVianV8Gr0T&ref=foodconsumer.org) 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 discriminatory QR codes**, websites or 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.** Only **64% of Americans own a smartphone.** 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, **only 50% of low income people in the U.S. own a smartphone**; only **52% of rural Americans**own a smartphone; and only **27% of seniors** own a smartphone. Even those who do own smartphones are not guaranteed consistent access to the internet. **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.** **Even if you’ve already called your Senators, PLEASE DO IT AGAIN! Just call** [**1-888-894-1033**](tel:1-888-894-1033) **and we’ll connect you to your Senator for free.** Thanks for everything you do, The Center for Food Safety team **P.S. –** [**Check out how your Senators voted and then tweet at them or leave a comment on their Facebook pages HERE**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=GVBN0kjW%2BCVUL2cPRK7IVJVianV8Gr0T&ref=foodconsumer.org)**. You can also**[**fax your Senators the facts HERE.**](http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=1ESXWtH4cTaxS6pithivp5VianV8Gr0T&ref=foodconsumer.org) --- **Why is the Stabenow – Roberts bill so bad?** Instead of providing consumers with simple, on-package labeling of genetically engineered foods, the Stabenow-Roberts bill: 1) **HAS NO MANDATORY STANDARDS** – The Senate bill itself proscribes no mandatory standards for GMO labeling. Rather it preempts the labeling laws of several states including Vermont, Connecticut, Maine and Alaska based solely on a multi –year discretionary process determined by an as yet unknown, future USDA Secretary. 2) **ALLOWS A VAST NUMBER OF CURRENT AND FUTURE GE FOODS TO BE EXEMPT FROM ANY LABELING** – The definition of “bioengineering” under the Act would exclude from labeling a vast number of current foods produced with genetic engineering including those where the “modification” is “found in nature,” those in which technology cannot as yet detect the novel genetic material, and foods made with non in vitro recombinant DNA techniques such as new generations of food made with RNAi and so-called “gene-editing” techniques. **In fact, 99% of all GMO food COULD be exempt from labeling** as the bill leaves it entirely up to a future USDA Secretary to determine what “amount” of GMO ingredients in a food qualifies it for labeling. 3) **CONSTITUTES DISCRIMINATION AGAINST THE RURAL, LOW INCOME, AND THE ELDERLY** \- The bill anticipates that GMO labeling will be done primarily through QR codes (“digital” labeling). **Because of their lack of access to smart phones, more than 50% of rural and low income populations, and more that 65% of the elderly, will have no access to these labels.** This impact will fall disproportionately on minority communities. Millions more that do have smart phones may not be able to access these QR codes because they cannot afford to maintain their data service or their neighborhoods do not have adequate network coverage. The study of the efficacy of QR codes outlined in the bill is to take place significantly AFTER any labeling is established and in the marketplace. The results of such a study, if any, may take many years to clarify and codify. Such a “study” provision is clearly not sufficient to absolve the bill of an unconstitutional discriminatory impact. 4) **IS A VIOLATION OF STATE SOVEREIGNITY BY SPECIFICALLY PREEMPTING GMO SEED LAWS AND POTENTIALLY NUMEROUS OTHER LAWS AND REGULATIONS** – The bill not only preempts state food labeling laws but also specifically preempts GMO seed labeling laws such as those in Vermont and Virginia that are designed to help farmers determine what seeds to buy and plant. Additionally, either intentionally or through poor drafting, the bill could be interpreted to be a preemption of more than 100 different state and municipal laws and regulations throughout the nation. 5) **INCLUDES ZERO ENFORCEMENT AGAINST THOSE WHO VIOLATE MANDATORY GMO LABELING** \- The bill provides no civil or criminal penalties whatsoever against those not complying with any GMO labeling requirement. The bill even specifically excludes the capacity of the USDA to order any recall of misbranded food even in cases where a product has been produced with genetic engineering but the corporation involved purposely decides to violate the law and not label. **The Senate could vote to pass this sham of a bill as early as today, so please make your call now! Dial** [**1-888-894-1033**](tel:1-888-894-1033) **and we’ll connect you to your Senator for free.** --- | | | | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | **Contact Us** CFS welcomes your questions and comments. Please contact us at [office@centerforfoodsafety.org](mailto:office@centerforfoodsafety.org), or at one of our offices. 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