Have a Coke and a … GMO?

The Coca-Cola Company isn’t smiling about the latest effort to force labels on foods and beverages that contain genetically modified organisms – this time in Washington State. It’s on a long list of manufacturers that sell products using ingredients derived from either corn or soy, both of which are nearly impossible to source in the United States without using genetically modified crops.

In fact, should Washington pass its ballot initiative 522 next week, good luck finding any processed foods or beverages in an Evergreen State grocery store that don’t have GMO warning labels.

Coca-Cola and PepsiCo both are on a list of 34 companies that now have contributed to a combined $11 million donation made by the Grocery Manufacturers Association to the campaign against I-522, which would require products in Washington to be labeled when they contain GMOs, GMA revealed earlier this month. Coke and Pepsi were identified as giving $1.52 million and $1.35 million respectively. In total, the “No on I-522” campaign has raised $21.4 million, and — at press time — had spent only $13 million of that amount.

Other top donors include: Nestle USA Inc. ($1,528,206), General Mills ($869,270), ConAgra Foods ($828,521), Campbell Soup ($384,888), The Hershey Company ($360,450), The J.M. Smucker Company ($349,977), Kellogg Company ($322,049) and Hormel Foods Company ($76,803).

Ballots are being collected through Nov. 5. The law, if passed, would go into effect on July 1, 2015, in Washington, though experts believe the vote ultimately could force companies to begin labeling for GMOs nationwide rather than create separate labels for one state.

Let's try again, the sugar restrictions predate NAFTA.

You see, the sugar guys got the politicians to restrict sugar imports......BEFORE NAFTA.

So if you're blaming NAFTA for them, you're a little late to the party.

Mexico's U.S. Sugar Quota: Mexico's annual U.S. sugar quota prior to NAFTA was approximately 8,000 tons, raw value. This quota reflected Mexico's status as a net importer of sugar. While Mexico's sugar production was roughly 3.2 million tons, sugar consumption growth outstripped sugar production growth, leaving Mexico with the requirement of a relatively large sugar import demand.

In the initial deliberations of the North American Free Trade discussions, Mexico requested a 1.65 million ton quota allocation in the U.S. market. Mexico's quota request of 1.65 million tons, raw value, exceeded the 1.52 million ton quota allocated by the United States to all foreign quota recipients (40 nations) for the 1991-92 quota year. Such a large Mexican quota would have required zero quota allocations to all other foreign nations under the provisions of the 1990 Farm Bill, which required a minimum of 1.25 million tons of U.S. sugar quota to friendly foreign nations. It was unlikely that Congress would ever endorse a NAFTA proposal to concentrate our foreign sugar quotas into the hands of one nation, irrespective of our friendly status with Mexico.

Provisions and Additional Access Granted to U.S. Market PRE-NAFTA HISTORY

If you still don't understand, on account of all the big words, I'll be happy to translate this down to your 4th grade reading level.

In case you weren’t aware of it, pepsi has been using embryonic stem cells to research the ‘taste’ of pepsi. according to this website

http://www.realfarmacy.com/pepsico-says-it-will-halt-use-of-aborted-fetal-cells-in-flavor-research/

they have discontinued that practice. Coke hasn’t used unborn baby cells and I have just kept drinking good ol’ Coke.

I think the main crops affected by GMOs are corn, soy, sugar beets, Hawaiian papaya wheat and alfalfa. So the sugar would most likely have to come from cane sugar to be non GMO.
But I agree, if this labeling law would force Coke to go back to using cane sugar it I might even buy one once in a while.
It would eventually be a very good thing to ensure the quality of our foodstuffs in the USA and maybe even help with some of the diseases which are running rampant in the USA today, such as diabetes and celiac and ADHD. Heaven knows Obamacare is not going to help.
I live in WA and I just voted yes on 522.

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