In a win for many science skeptics, President Obama quietly signed a bill into law on Friday that federally mandates GMO labeling.
Under the new law, consumers will now be able to find out whether the item they’re purchasing contains GMOs (genetically modified organisms) by reading a label on the package, scanning a QR code, or calling a 1-800 number.
The law comes after the administration responded to a WhiteHouse.gov petition calling for the “mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods.” The petition, which garnered over 115,000 signatures, prompted a response from the White House.
Despite the victory for the organic crowd, some activists are upset the requirement doesn’t go far enough.
In a statement, the international director of the Organic Consumers Association, Ronnie Cummins, said, “The bill allows corporations to hide information about GMOs behind confusing QR electronic barcodes that more than a third of Americans can’t even read because they don’t have smart phones or reliable internet service.”
“This bill was paid for and written by corporations who clearly have something to hide,” he continued.
The political director for OCA, Alexis Baden-Mayer, said it was “cowardly” for Obama to sign the bill on a Friday.
OCA is calling for a boycott of the brands that use a QR code on their packaging instead of explicitly stating whether their goods contain genetically modified ingredients.
The boycott reportedly has almost 500,000 supporters as of 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, according to a petition on buycott.com.
Even though the entire point of the bill is to provide consumers with the ability to know whether their goods contain GMOs, opponents of the law have taken to calling it the DARK Act, standing for “Denying Americans the Right to Know.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has two years to enact its rules for national, federally-mandated GMO labeling.