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GM fish and meat would be labeled, under proposed Senate bill

Meat that’s raised with antibiotics, growth promoters, and fed animal by-products could be labeled “Natural” under the current USDA definition of the term. That’s because the label only refer to how the meat was processed after slaughter.
Kathleen Masterson
/
Harvest Public Media
Meat that’s raised with antibiotics, growth promoters, and fed animal by-products could be labeled “Natural” under the current USDA definition of the term. That’s because the label only refer to how the meat was processed after slaughter.

All genetically modified meat and fish raised and sold in Missouri would have to be labeled as such, under legislation filed in the State Senate.  It’s sponsored by Democrat Jamilah Nasheed of St. Louis. 

She says genetically modified fish and meat are banned in some European countries: “I’m not saying that there is a health risk…(the) only thing I’m saying is that people should have the right to know what it is they’re putting in their bodies…we have approximately 70 percent of our foods in the supermarkets that’s genetically modified, and people don’t know which products are genetically modified.”

If it becomes law, it would be a Class C misdemeanor to deliberately not label fish or meat that’s been genetically modified.  However, anyone who used genetic modification unknowingly or unintentionally would not be in violation of the proposed law.

Missouri Public Radio State House Reporter Marshall Griffin is a proud alumnus of the University of Mississippi (a.k.a., Ole Miss), and has been in radio for over 20 years, starting out as a deejay. His big break in news came when the first President Bush ordered the invasion of Panama in 1989. Marshall was working the graveyard shift at a rock station, and began ripping news bulletins off the old AP teletype and reading updates between songs. From there on, his radio career turned toward news reporting and anchoring. In 1999, he became the capital bureau chief for Florida's Radio Networks, and in 2003 he became News Director at WFSU-FM/Florida Public Radio. During his time in Tallahassee he covered seven legislative sessions, Governor Jeb Bush's administration, four hurricanes, the Terri Schiavo saga, and the 2000 presidential recount. Before coming to Missouri, he enjoyed a brief stint in the Blue Ridge Mountains, reporting and anchoring for WWNC-AM in Asheville, North Carolina. Marshall lives in Jefferson City with his wife, Julie, their dogs, Max and Mason, and their cat, Honey.