Statement from Snack Food Association President and CEO Tom Dempsey

 
(Washington, D.C.) – The Snack Food Association issued the following statement today after the Senate failed to advance Senate Agriculture Chairman Pat Roberts' proposal to establish a uniform, national food labeling standard:
 
"We are extremely disappointed that the Senate could not come together today to support a bipartisan solution that would have called for unprecedented disclosure of ingredient information to consumers and prevented a chaotic patchwork of state laws from taking effect. The Snack Food Association's members are committed to meeting consumer demand for information, but we urgently need Congress to come together to set clear guidelines that don't lead to confusion, increased grocery bills, and crippling costs for food manufacturers. We view today's result as a major failure on behalf of our Congress to stand up and do the right thing for American food and agricultural business, as well as for consumers.  
 
Small and midsized companies will be hit the hardest by the state-by-state approach to mandatory labeling if the Senate does not quickly reach a compromise.  We must find a solution that establishes federal guidelines for GMO labeling that does not stigmatize a technology that has been proven safe and beneficial. Only Congress has the ability to prevent a costly and confusing patchwork of state labeling laws from beginning to take effect in July 2016. The time to act is now.
 
We thank Chairman Roberts for his leadership and will continue to work toward a bipartisan agreement."