Market News & Headlines >> GMO Labeling Laws Defeated

A pair of laws that would have required labeling of foods made with genetically modified ingredients were defeated in Tuesday’s elections, one in Oregon and the other in Colorado.

 The Oregon measure lost by a narrow margin of 49% to 51%, according to unofficial results reported by the Oregon Secretary of State's Office on Wednesday, while voters in Colorado soundly rejected labeling by a margin of 66% to 34%.

 Food industry and agricultural interests spent an estimated $36 million campaigning against the two measures. Backers of GMO labeling mustered only $8 million in Oregon and $895,000 in Colorado to campaign for passage, according to Reuters News Service.   

 Meanwhile, voters in Hawaii's Maui County also took up GMO issues, approving a temporary ban on the growing of GMO crops by a margin of 50% to 48%. The measure imposes a moratorium on genetically engineered crops until certain environmental and public health studies are conducted.  Both Monsanto and Dow AgroSciences, a unit of Dow Chemical, have GMO crop operations in Maui County.