Tester joins Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow to fight for GMO labeling

Senator: ‘If GMO producers are proud of their product, they should want to label it’

(U.S. Senate) – Third-generation Montana farmer and U.S. Senator Jon Tester today joined Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow to fight for the labeling of genetically modified (GMO) foods.

During today’s press conference, Tester and Paltrow, along with Paltrow’s mother, actress Blythe Danner, opposed a U.S. House bill that would ban states from requiring GMO labeling.

“Every American has a right to know if the food they eat was created in a lab,” Tester said. “If GMO producers – and their allies – are as proud of their product as they claim they are, they should want to label it.”

“I’m not here as an expert,” Paltrow said. “I’m here as a mother – an American mother – who honestly believes that I have a right to know what’s in the food that I feed my family.”

Tester pointed out that currently there is no federal requirement for companies using genetically engineered ingredients to disclose that information on ingredient labels. Meanwhile, 64 countries, including Russia and China, require GMO foods to be labeled.

Tester recently joined Senator Boxer to introduce a Senate bill, the Genetically Engineered Food Right-to-Know Act, that requires labeling of genetically engineered food.