Campaign seeks to require labeling of foods containing GMOs

A Tucson activist is launching an initiative campaign this week aimed at requiring the labeling of foods containing genetically modified ingredients. Jon McLane says he's concerned about the safety of plants that may have been altered to perhaps create their own pesticides. The measure would not ban the sale of such foods, just require the labeling of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs.

“The fact that we are not trying to prove in our camp is whether these GMOs are safe or not,” McLane said. “The point that we’re trying to make is that people have a right to know exactly what’s in their food without misinformation.”

But, Julie Murphree of the Arizona Farm Bureau Federation says numerous studies have shown the body processes such foods, just as it does those that are not modified,

“The other thing that I try to encourage people to realize is that mandatory GMO food labeling implies risk where there really is none,” Murphree said.

Murphree says some companies already label products as GMO-free. McLane has until July of 2014 to collect nearly 173,000 signatures to put the measure on the ballot.