Six Truefood Network members have been arrested attempting to persuade supermarkets through peaceful protest to remove unlabelled GM infant formula from the shelves. If you've sent a message to the Health Minister, Nicola Roxon, demanding that she plug the loopholes in Australia's lax GM labelling laws, then we're well on the way to forcing our government to take the community's concerns about GM contamination of our food seriously.
But if you really want to make GM labelling an issue the Australian government can't ignore, the best thing you can do is take the Truefood Network's message straight to your local member of parliament.
We often hear from politicians that we already have GM labelling laws in Australia, so why does the Truefood Network keep going on about them? The best answer to that is that the loopholes in Australia's GM labelling laws are so big you could drive a truck through them. The result is that most of the GM foods on supermarket shelves aren't labelled.
For example, these foods don't require labelling - even if they contain GM:
- Highly refined foods (cooking oils, margarines, sugars etc), which covers most processed foods
- Foods made at bakeries, restaurants and takeaway stores
- Animal products (meat, milk, eggs) that have been fed GM feed.
One of the biggest loopholes in GM labelling laws is the "opps, it was an accident" defence. Under our law, it is ok for companies to not label up to 1% of GM in food products if it is "unintentionally" present.
To make matters worse, the government rarely tests if there are GM products in our food, or makes companies prove that GM additions were an accident.
Take Action! By taking the message that you want ALL GM labelled to your local federal MP. That means they need to vote to remove all of the exemptions in our current GM labelling laws.
We've made it easy by producing a 'How to lobby your MP' kit'
You can also click below to find out who and where your MP is:
Find out what electorate you are in
Find your local federal MP’s electorate office
If you can't visit them in person, download this ready-made card you can post to them. The card can be coloured in, providing an opportunity to involve your children, grandchildren, nephews or nieces.
