On Nov. 5, Washington state voters will decide whether the state will become the first in the nation to require labeling for genetically engineered ingredients. Companies have spent millions to oppose the grass-roots measure, but until recently many have managed to keep their identities a secret.
The group Moms for Labeling was the first to accuse the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) of violating the state’s campaign finance disclosure laws. The group said GMA was laundering donations from the companies it represents, to protect them from consumer backlash. A judge dismissed the case on a technicality.
On Oct. 16, Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed another suit. His lawsuit worked.
The day after the state suit was filed, GMA disclosed the names of 34 of the nation’s best known food and beverage brands, and the financial contributions each made to a campaign to defeat voter initiative 522.
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“In our view it’s a clear violation. It’s an important violation, particularly given the size and amount of dollars that we’re talking about,” Ferguson said at a news conference in Seattle.
$17 Million to Defeat Inititative
Contributions to the campaign to defeat I-522 so far total over $17 million. Food companies contributed over $7 million. According to the Seattle Times, opponents of Washington’s I-522 have broken the state record for raising money against a statewide initiative.
The list of companies, including PepsiCo, Campbell’s Soup, General Mills, Kellogg’s, Hershey, Nestlé USA, and others, reveals many of the same brand names that contributed to the campaign to defeat California’s labeling initiative in 2012.
According to a December 2012 directive from the GMA board, concealing the identity of campaign contributors was a strategy to fund I-522 opposition “while better shielding individual companies from attack for providing funding.”
In an Oct. 17 statement, GMA said that its voluntary disclosure of individual contributors aimed to provide Washington voters with “full transparency.”
“GMA is taking this action to allow the campaign to focus on the important issues related to the I-522 ballot proposal itself, and to put an end to unnecessary distraction and speculation about sources and amounts of funding,” the trade group said.
Pinnacle Foods Group LLC $120,846 The J. M. Smucker Company $241,091 Rich Products Corporation $24,049 General Mills, Inc. $598,819 PepsiCo, Inc. $1,620,899 Bunge North America, Inc. $94,993 Bumble Bee Foods, LLC $36,073 Bush Brothers & Company A $16,233 Moody Dunbar, Inc. $1,804 Dean Foods Company $120,245 Kellogg Company$ 221,852 Nestlé USA, Inc. $1,052,743 ConAgra Foods $285,281 Bimbo Bakeries USA $94,693 Welch Foods, Inc. $28,859 Knouse Foods Cooperative, Inc. $14,429 Bruce Foods Corporation $3,006 Abbott Nutrition $127,459 Campbell Soup Company $265,140 Del Monte Foods Company $86,576 Sunny Delight Beverages Company$ 21,043 Shearer’s Foods, Inc. -$ 25,251 Mondelez Global LLC $144,895 Land O'Lakes, Inc. $99,803 The Coca-Cola Company $1,047,332 The Hillshire Brands Company $97,398 The Hershey Company $248,305 Hormel Foods Corporation $52,908 Clement Pappas & Company, Inc. $21,043 McCormick & Company, Inc. $102,208 Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. $55,313 Flowers Foods, Inc. $141,288 Cargill, Inc. $98,601 The Clorox Company $12,024 Total $ 7,222,500 |