Labeling of genetically engineered food and granting rule-making authority. (FE)

Labeling The bill generally prohibits a retailer, such as a grocer, from selling a packaged food produced through genetic engineering unless the package is clearly labeled to indicate that the food is produced through genetic engineering. The bill generally prohibits a retailer from selling an unpackaged food produced through genetic engineering unless the retailer places on the shelf or bin where the food is sold a sign indicating that the food is produced through genetic engineering.

The bill also generally prohibits a retailer from selling a food produced through genetic engineering that is labeled as "natural."

Exemptions The bill contains a number of exemptions to the labeling requirements, including those described below.

Under the bill, the labeling requirements do not apply to food that is produced from an animal that was not genetically engineered, regardless of whether the animal was fed or injected with a food or drug produced through genetic engineering.

The labeling requirements do not apply to unpackaged food that is sold in a restaurant or is prepared and sold for takeout, for example, in a grocery store. The bill also exempts from the labeling requirements, until July 1, 2020, processed foods that contain ten or fewer ingredients produced through genetic engineering if the weight of each is not more than 0.45 percent of the weight of the food.

The bill allows a retailer to rely on a sworn statement from a supplier that a food was not knowingly produced through genetic engineering or on a determination by an independent organization, based on sampling and testing, that a food was not produced through genetic engineering. The bill requires the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection to promulgate rules specifying requirements for sampling and testing by independent organizations.