A Californian ballot proposing the labeling of genetically modified ingredients in food products has been rejected by the state’s voters.
With 95 percent of votes counted, the polls showed 47 percent voted in favor and 53 percent against. The contentious measure, proposition 37, would have required GM labels on food sold in supermarkets, and was seen as a testbed case for the US as a whole.
Monsanto and other agribusiness and food companies such as PepsiCo and Nestle spent USD 45 million on advertising and lobbying for the “no” campaign, compared with around USD 8 million for the “yes” campaign, that was largely funded by organic food companies.
Before the vote, the prop 37 supporter Andrew Kimbrell had said he hoped it would be the “hammer we needed to break open the federal roadblock.” But those hopes have been dashed with 23,221 of 24,491 precincts in the state reporting votes.
Grant Lundberg, CEO of Lundberg Family Farms, co-chair of the Yes on 37 group, told the San Franciso Chronicle: “Whatever happens tonight, this is a win. Never before have millions of Californians come together to support giving consumers a choice about genetically engineered foods.” The yes campaign had attracted several celebrity supporters, such as Gwyneth Paltrow and rap star Pharrell Williams who tweeted on Tuesday night: “vote yes on Prop 37 if you believe you have the right to know what's in your food.”
