GMO Saturday

Monsanto and the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) have long defended their die-hard positions against mandatory GMO labeling laws, often by feigning concern about the financial impact labeling laws would have on consumers. Labeling will be costly for manufacturers, who will pass those costs on to consumers, they consistently argue (despite studies suggesting otherwise).

As if concern for consumers’ wallets had anything to do with Big Food’s determination to deceive.

So the first question we asked the Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB) last week, following the announcement that Campbell’s will label all of its products that contain GMOs, was this: Will you charge more for these products after you label them?

In an email to OCA, company spokesman Tom Hushen wrote:

“To be clear, there will be no price increase as a result of Vermont or national GMO labeling for Campbell products.”

Will Campbell’s have to absorb extra costs associated with labeling? Will profit margins on their GMO brands shrink?

No, says Carmen Bain, a sociology professor at Iowa State University who studies GMO labeling. Bain told PoliticoPro’s Jenny Hopkinson:

“Campbell has determined that the cost of labeling their products is negligible (and therefore won’t mean higher costs for consumers) and that it’s probably costlier for them not to get out in front of this thing.”

@ ORGANIC CONSUMERS