GMO labeling or not?

According to: http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/consumer/gmfood/labelling/Pages/default.aspx

"GM foods and ingredients must undergo a safety assessment and be approved before they can be sold in Australia and New Zealand. GM labeling is not about safety. It is about helping consumers make an informed choice about the food they buy."

This seems to be a reasonable choice, but will the majority of our public understand that it is not related to safety issues; it only helps to make an informed choice?

Critical literacy and scientific literacy regarding to GMO`s is low, especially in Europe. Thus, labeling one kind of food while not labeling the other kind will create information bias.

Distinguishing between GMO food and non-GMO food is arbitrary. This is a process-based labeling without scientific reasoning.

Actually, for organic food a warning label is more reasonable. It can contain unknown amount of pathogens due to the use of fertilizers. "Good quality organic fertilizers are important in limiting the spread of pathogens to agricultural crops, and the EPA has set up guidelines on bacterial limits in compost. However, the results from this study demonstrate that even if the EPA

guidelines are met pathogens may recolonize the fertilizer and/or antimicrobial resistant microorganisms may be present. Therefore, further research on reducing microbial contamination during production and storage of organic fertilizers is critical to ensure the safety of produce production" (http://tigerprints.clemson.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2123&context=all_theses)

As so called "natural chemicals" are used in organic farming, the risk of organic food products is not to be neglected.

In summary, either none or all should be labeled to avoid confirmation bias:

One label for GMO-food: This contains GM food; however, distinguishing between GM and non-GM food is arbitrary, it might be healthier than organic food.

One label for organic-food: This might contain unknown amount of pathogens and could be contaminated with unknown chemicals. Please, wash before use!