Of course - it’s our right to know what we’re eating.  Despite tens of thousands of Australians making it clear, through petitions and submissions, that current loopholes in Australia’s labelling laws are unacceptable, the Australian Government still thinks GM foods should be allowed in our foods without us knowing.  

Proper labelling would make a difference to how we shop. Over half of Australians wouldn’t buy GM food if they knew about it. A further 56% of Australians are unconvinced of the safety of eating GM food. We should have the right to avoid GM foods and feel confident that what we’re eating isn’t doing us harm.

What’s labelled and what’s not?

In Australia, only a small portion of foods containing GM food is labelled.

The law does not require manufacturers to label the GM content in:

• 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.

Even the implementation of this unsatisfactory law is lacking. In 2010, state government health agencies admitted they hadn’t done any testing within the previous five years to check for food company compliance with labelling.

Take action: Email new Health Minister Tanya Plibersek and let her know that 96% of Australians want GM labelled –that includes closing the loopholes.