Report: GE Food Labeling Costs Less Than a Latte

(Undated) -- A group has "studied the studies" about what it could cost consumers to label the genetically-engineered ingredients in foods sold for retail sale – and says the answer is, "not much." Increased food cost is a major argument of food producers and agribusinesses that oppose genetically modified food labeling. So, the firm ECONorthwest looked at more than two-dozen studies on G-E labeling. Director Bob Whelan says not all of them mentioned cost, and the estimates from those that did ranged from 32-cents to 15-dollars a year. He says his group calculated the median figure. Food industry-funded studies have estimated the additional annual cost per person at 100- to 200-dollars. In Illinois, Senate Bill 1666 would require labeling of foods containing more than one percent of G-E ingredients by volume.