Truth in labeling is pro-consumer not anti-business

People need to get that through their thick heads.

Currently there is a bill in the ag committee in the Missouri House of Representatives that would mandate truth in labeling of dairy products that needs to be passed, business protestations aside. The bill was introduced by Rogersville Republican Mike Cunningham, and there was a committee meeting this morning. I happened to call his office to ask how the hearing went, just as he was walking in the office, and he talked to me himself and told me that it went pretty well, and I could hear him smile over the phone when he told me that he talked for about 45 minutes and didn't leave a lot of time for opposition, by the dairy industry.

I dunno about you, but I can't, for the life of me, figure out why the modest, common sense proposals in MO HB 2283 are even being protested. Here are the main points of the bill:

HB 2283 -- Dairy Product Labeling

Sponsor: Cunningham (145)

This bill specifies that a dairy product, except those produced
through organic farming, is misbranded if:

(1) A compositional claim cannot be confirmed through laboratory
analysis;

(2) A compositional claim is supported solely by sworn
statements, affidavits, or testimonials;

(3) The label contains false or misleading statements,
production claims, or production composition; or

(4) A statement indicates the absence of a compound not
permitted by the United States Food and Drug Administration but
it is found present in the product.

There is simply nothing there that would be onerous or represent an undue burden. Anyone put out of business by this piece of legislation that would simply demand truth in labeling of some of the foodstuffs we put in our bodies to sustain our very lives is most likely either a lousy businessman, or they are dishonest and shouldn't be in business anyway.

I would like to encourage encourage all Missouri voters to contact their state Representative, regardless of party, and encourage him or her to support this common sense piece of legislation.

In Which I say Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa, Mea Maxima Culpa

I will not be supporting Missouri HB 2283, I will be opposing it with full-throated protest. And I will not soon be forgetting that I was taken in by a bill that was written to do that very thing by deception.

It is a big wet kiss to big ag and specifically Monsanto.

And in future, I will refrain from posting on bills that sound good to a scientist at first blush until an attorney deciphers the legalese.




[Crossposted from Show Me Progress]