Tomorrow, California voters will be asked to decide the fate of Proposition 37, a voter initiative that would require certain raw and processed foods that have or may have been “entirely or partially produced with genetic engineering” to be labeled as such, if sold in California. Proposition 37 contains a number of exemptions from the labeling requirement. Specifically, if passed, the following foods would be not be required to comply with the mandatory labeling provisions of the initiative:
- certified organic products;
- alcoholic beverages;
- medical foods;
- food sold for immediate consumption, such as in a restaurants;
- products unintentionally produced with genetically engineered material;
- food made from animals fed or injected with genetically engineered material but not genetically engineered themselves; and
- food processed with or containing only small amounts of genetically engineered ingredients.
Initially, Proposition 37 was supported by more than two-thirds of Californians who said they intended to vote on November 6, according to a poll from the California Business Roundtable and Pepperdine University’s School of Public Policy. On October 30, however, their latest poll indicated that support had dropped to approximately 39% and opposition had increased to almost 51 percent.
In addition to being the center of heated debate here in the U.S. over the past several months, the initiative has also received international attention. A recent article in The Guardian noted that “California’s ballot initiatives often take on huge importance. Often they are seen as laboratories for new ideas, that are adopted later in the rest of the country.”
Stoel Rives attorneys will be watching the outcome of the polls in California and will report on the results later this week.