Victoria Mugambi What Am I Eating?

Having grown up in an African household, my family and I rarely ate pre-prepared foods; in fact, I had never had EasyMac until I came to college. We always ate foods like rice, spaghetti, or some other sort of whole wheat pasta with stews with plenty of vegetables and beans. Meat was a once a week ordeal and it was always things like chicken, fish, or unground beef cuts. However in 11th grade, our English teacher made us watch a movie called Food Inc. The movies goal was to persuade the viewers to take action against the FDA and encourage the passing of laws regulating food labeling and preparation. It got me thinking about what all went into our food. I had never eaten a lot of processed foods, but I knew many Americans consumed these items on a daily basis. Did they know what was going into their food? Several of my friends and I became vegetarians soon after and promised to only eat organic foods or foods from companies that didnt use additives, GMOs, or any other chemical additions. Unfortunately, good as our intentions were, our pledge didnt last very long. We were soon back to eating normally and, after another week or so, completely forgot the entire issue. I revisited the issue when I started college and began enjoying all the conveniences of microwavable mashed potatoes and PopTarts. As I investigate the issue over again new questions are beginning to arise as well. What all are food companies required label? Why are some ingredients or food preparation processes not required to be labeled? And, most importantly, what are my rights as a consumer to know what all goes into what I eat?

I started my search with the movie that had sparked my interest on the topic in the first place, Food Inc. Directed by Robert Kenner, Food Inc. is an expository film about the food in America. It discusses where it comes from, who owns what, and how it affects us on a daily

basis. The film argues the need for stricter laws, restrictions, and policies when it comes to the food we eat. During the film, the amount of GMOs, or genetically modified ingredients, was stated to be 70%. It then went on to point out that The SB63 Consumer Right to Know measure, requiring all food derived from cloned animals to be labeled as such, passed the California state legislature before being vetoed in 2007 by Governor Schwarzenegger, who said that he couldnt sign a bill that pre-empted federal law. (Food Inc., 2007). I became frustrated with the governors decision as the film went on. How could he not allow information like this to be readily available to consumers in California? However, I also began to doubt whether or not this was completely accurate. Food Inc. was written to expose and persuade after all. Therefore, theyre bias and could have made it sound as if Schwarzenegger had intended to do this and was purposefully trying to keep consumers in the dark. Had he really just written off the law as the film suggested, or was he really following policy when it came to state laws? I decided my next step should be to investigate into the SB63 Consumer Right to Know law and the judicial decisions that went into it.

With the question of whether or not Schwarzeneggers decision was really based on federal law or not, I searched for more information about SB63. I was definitely not disappointed by what I found. The California Legislature posted the original law that was under discussion, the legislatives decision, and Schwarzeneggers response. Senate bill SB63 specifically states that it will require a every livestock producer, as defined, who sells or transfers any cloned animal or its progeny to disclose to the buyer or transferee that the animal is cloned or is the progeny of a cloned animal, as specified. It would also require food for human consumption that contains any product from a cloned animal or its progeny to be labeled to indicate that the food includes the product of a cloned animal or its progeny, as specified.(SB 63 Senate Bill, 2007). The bill was

approved by the California State Legislature on September 14, 2007. However, apporximately one month later on October 13, 2007, the bill was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger. In the letter written to the California State Senate Schwarzenegger writes While I support access to information that helps inform consumer choices, I cannot sign this bill as it is pre-empted by federal law. Federal law prohibits states from enacting labeling requirements for meat and poultry that are in addition to those federally established. (Schwarzenegger, Arnold. Letter to the California State Senate. 13 Oct 2007. TS.) Now that I knew the Governors official statement was, in fact, sound, I proceeded to search for what federal law actually had to say about meat and poultry items. I soon found my way to the Center for Food Safety. The group had protested against Schwarzeneggers decision and went on to say, in a letter sent to him one month after the veto, that the federal law doesnt apply to meat; only dairy products (Spector, Rebecca. Letter to Governor Schwarzenegger. 13 Nov 2007. TS.). However, this was the Center for Food Safety, not the FDA directly. My next move in my investigation was to find out what the Food and Drug Administration states when it comes to food labeling. I researched the FDAs regulations and soon found a document published by the Office of Nutrition, Labeling, and Dietary Supplement. The Food Labeling Guide is used as a guidance for industrial companies when it comes to food labeling. Under Section 7 of the Guide, the FDA rules that Under FDA's laws and regulations, FDA does not pre-approve labels for food products. (Food Labeling Guide, 2009). I deduced that since the FDA doesnt pre-approve labels for food products, than the federal law shouldnt be bothered by the ruling of the California State Legislature after all, should it? I continued to read into the Food Labeling Guide in order to gain a better understanding of the other regulations on food labels. I discovered that: Only approved chemical preservatives added to food have to be labeled. Unapproved chemicals or genetically modified ingredients do not need to be labeled

 Manufacturers can request for certain ingredients in their products to be exempt from labeling

Raw agricultural commodities (fresh fruits and vegetables) are exempt from from any food labeling The last factoid interested me the most. I remembered farming and agriculture were heavily discussed in Food Inc. Since the company Monsanto in particular had been heavily critiqued, I elected to look more into the matter. Monsanto, an agricultural biotechnology corporation, came across heavy criticism in the film for their genetically modified soybeans. Developed in 1996, the soybeans were genetically modified to resist the effects of the popular weed-killer, RoundUp. This, thus, allowed farmers to kill the weeds that grew among the soybeans without harming the actual soybean plant. Monsanto only controlled 2% of the U.S. soybean market when the modified soybeans were first available to growers. Now, however, over 90% of the soybeans grown in the U.S. are of Monsantos genetically modified design ("18 'Food, Inc.' Facts Everyone Should Know.", 2012). The technology behind the soybeans is a good idea; being able to kill weeds without killing the plant as well is very helpful for growers and increases the overall harvest since the plants are getting all their nutrients. At the same time its a bit unsettling knowing that 90% of the soybeans used in our eveyday products have been modified in this way. And, on top of that, we as consumers are not readily told this information. So, what has been learned from all this? And why does it matter? Food is an important part of our lives. I know for me personally, eating is one of my favourite pass times. So it matters what were eating on and what all is in it. After all Ive learned over my issue, I can conclude that as consumers we really dont have all the access to information about our food that we should be having. Though food companies do label some things, they dont label everything which

doesn;t benefit customers and consumers. I have, however, gained some understanding of what federal law states and how it pertains to us. So the moral or take home message of all of this? Know what youre eating. Try and eat foods that have been labeled as organic or, if you do buy something else, pay attention to the ingredients. Its imperative that we keep our bodies healthy, and monitoring what goes in is the first essential step.

References: 1. United States. Food and Drug Administration. Office of Nutrition, Labeling, and Dietary Supplements. Guidance for Industry: A Food Labeling Guide. N.p.: FDA, 1994.Food Labeling Guide. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Oct. 2009. Web. 05 Sept. 2013. <http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/GuidanceRegulation/UCM265446.pdf>. 2. "What Are We Eating?" LabelGMOs. NationBuilder, n.d. Web. 08 Sept. 2013. <http://www.labelgmos.org/the_science_genetically_modified_foods_gmo>. 3. Food, Inc. Dir. Robert Kenner. Perf. Eric Schlosser and Michael Pollan. Movie One, 2008. DVD. 4. Migden, and Alquist. "Senate Bill SB63." SB 63 Senate Bill. California State Legislature, 16 Jan. 2007. Web. 13 Sept. 2013. <http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/sen/sb_00510100/sb_63_bill_20070917_enrolled.html>. 5. Schwarzenegger, Arnold. "SB 63 Senate Bill- Veto." Letter to California State Senate. 13 Oct. 2007. SB 63Senate Bill- Veto. N.p., 13 Oct. 2007. Web. 13 Sept. 2013. <http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/sen/sb_0051-0100/sb_63_vt_20071013.html>. 6. Spector, Rebecca, and Elisa Odabashian. Letter to Governor Schwarzenegger. 13 Nov. 2007. Center for Food Safety. Consumer's Union, 13 Nov. 2007. Web. 13 Sept. 2013. <http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/files/ca_cloning_letter-2_19923.pdf>.

7. Freeman, Andrew, and Christina Kharbertyan. "18 'Food, Inc.' Facts Everyone Should Know." TakePart. N.p., 24 Oct. 2012. Web. 15 Sept. 2013. <http://www.takepart.com/photos/food-inc-facts/monsantos-soybean-monopoly>.