I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 913 
To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require that geneti-
cally engineered food and foods that contain genetically engineered ingre-
dients be labeled accordingly. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 12, 2015 
Mr. DEFAZIO (for himself, Mr. SCHIFF, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New 
York, Mr. GRAYSON, Ms. GABBARD, Ms. PINGREE, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. 
NADLER, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. POLIS, Ms. SPEIER, 
Ms. KUSTER, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Ms. NORTON, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, 
Mr. WELCH, Ms. TITUS, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. HONDA, Ms. KAPTUR, 
Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. LOWENTHAL, and 
Mr. CONYERS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to 
require that genetically engineered food and foods that 
contain genetically engineered ingredients be labeled ac-
cordingly. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Genetically Engineered 
Food Right-to-Know Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. PURPOSE AND FINDINGS. 
(a) PURPOSE.—The purposes of this Act are to— 
(1) establish a consistent and enforceable 
standard for labeling of foods produced using genetic 
engineering, thereby providing consumers with 
knowledge of how their food is produced; and 
(2) prevent consumer confusion and deception 
by prohibiting the labeling of products produced 
from genetic engineering as ‘‘natural’’, and by pro-
moting the disclosure of factual information on food 
labels to allow consumers to make informed deci-
sions. 
(b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 
(1) the process of genetically engineering food 
organisms results in material changes and the fact 
that foods are genetically engineered is of material 
importance to consumers; 
(2) the Food and Drug Administration requires 
the labeling of more than 3,000 ingredients, addi-
tives, and processes; 
(3) individuals in the United States have a 
right to know if their food was produced with ge-
netic engineering for a variety of reasons, including 
health, economic, environmental, religious, and eth-
ical; 
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(4) more than 60 countries, including the 
United Kingdom and all other countries of the Euro-
pean Union, South Korea, Japan, Brazil, Australia, 
India, China, and other key United States trading 
partners have laws or regulations mandating disclo-
sure of genetically engineered food on food labels; 
(5) in 2011, Codex Alimentarius, the food 
standards organization of the United Nations, 
adopted a text that indicates that governments can 
decide on whether and how to label foods produced 
with genetic engineering; 
(6) mandatory identification of food produced 
with genetic engineering can be a critical method of 
preserving the economic value of exports or domesti-
cally sensitive markets with labeling requirements 
for genetically engineered foods; and 
(7) the cultivation of genetically engineered 
crops can have adverse effects on the environment in 
the form of cross-pollination of native plants, in-
creased herbicide usage, and impacts on non-target 
and beneficial organisms, including the Monarch 
butterfly. 
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SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE FEDERAL FOOD, DRUG, AND 
COSMETIC ACT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 403 of the Federal Food, 
Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 343) is amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(z)(1) If it is a food that has been genetically engi-
neered or contains 1 or more genetically engineered ingre-
dients, unless the ingredients label clearly states that the 
food has been genetically engineered or identifies any ge-
netically engineered ingredients, as applicable. 
‘‘(2) This paragraph does not apply to food that— 
‘‘(A) is served in restaurants or other similar 
eating establishments, such as cafeterias and 
carryouts; 
‘‘(B) is a medical food (as defined in section 
5(b) of the Orphan Drug Act); 
‘‘(C) would be subject to this paragraph solely 
because it was produced using a genetically engi-
neered vaccine or drug; 
‘‘(D) is a food or processed food that would be 
subject to this paragraph solely because it includes 
the use of a genetically engineered processing aid 
(including yeast) or enzyme; or 
‘‘(E) is a packaged food consisting of materials 
produced through genetic engineering that do not 
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‘‘(C) The term ‘genetically engineered ingre-
dient’ means a material that is an ingredient in a 
food that is derived from any part of an organism 
that has been genetically engineered, without regard 
to whether— 
‘‘(i) the altered molecular or cellular char-
acteristics of the organism are detectable in the 
material; and 
‘‘(ii) the organism is capable for use as 
human food.’’. 
(b) RESTRICTIONS ON THE TERM ‘‘NATURAL’’.—Sec-
tion 403 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act 
(21 U.S.C. 343), as amended by subsection (a), is further 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(aa) If it is a food intended for human consumption 
that has been produced using genetic engineering or that 
contains one or more genetically engineered ingredients 
and it bears a label, or for which there is signage or adver-
tising, containing a claim that the food is ‘natural’, ‘natu-
rally made’, ‘naturally grown’, ‘all natural’, or using any 
similar words that would be misleading to a consumer.’’. 
(c) GUARANTY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 303(d) of the Fed-
eral Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 
333(d)) is amended— 
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(A) by striking ‘‘(d)’’ and inserting 
‘‘(d)(1)’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2)(A) No person shall be subject to the pen-
alties of subsection (a)(1) for a violation of sub-
section (a), (b), or (c) of section 301 involving food 
that is misbranded within the meaning of paragraph 
(z) or (aa) of section 403 if such person (referred 
to in this paragraph as the ‘recipient’) establishes a 
guaranty or undertaking that— 
‘‘(i) is signed by, and contains the name 
and address of, a person residing in the United 
States from whom the recipient received in good 
faith the food (including the receipt of seeds to 
grow raw agricultural commodities); and 
‘‘(ii) contains a statement to the effect 
that the food is not genetically engineered or 
does not contain a genetically engineered ingre-
dient. 
‘‘(B) In the case of a recipient who, with re-
spect to a food, establishes a guaranty or under-
taking in accordance with subparagraph (A), the ex-
clusion under such subparagraph from being subject 
to penalties applies to the recipient without regard 
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to the manner in which the recipient uses the food, 
including whether the recipient is— 
‘‘(i) processing the food; 
‘‘(ii) using the food as an ingredient in a 
food product; 
‘‘(iii) repacking the food; or 
‘‘(iv) growing, raising, or otherwise pro-
ducing the food. 
‘‘(C) No person may avoid responsibility or li-
ability for a violation of subsection (a), (b), or (c) 
of section 301 involving food that is misbranded 
within the meaning of paragraph (z) or (aa) of sec-
tion 403 by entering into a contract or other agree-
ment that specifies that another person shall bear 
such responsibility or liability, except that a recipi-
ent may require a guaranty or undertaking as de-
scribed in this subsection. 
‘‘(D) For purposes of this Act, food will be con-
sidered not to have been produced with the knowing 
or intentional use of genetic engineering if— 
‘‘(i) such food is lawfully certified to be la-
beled, marketed, and offered for sale as ‘or-
ganic’ pursuant to the Organic Foods Produc-
tion Act of 1990; or 
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‘‘(ii) an independent organization has de-
termined that the food has not been knowingly 
or intentionally genetically engineered and has 
been segregated from, and not knowingly or in-
tentionally commingled with, foods that may 
have been genetically engineered at any time, if 
such a determination has been made pursuant 
to a sampling and testing procedure that— 
‘‘(I) is consistent with sampling and 
testing principles recommended by inter-
nationally recognized standards organiza-
tions; and 
‘‘(II) does not rely on testing proc-
essed foods in which no DNA is detectable. 
‘‘(E) In this subsection, the terms ‘genetically 
engineered’ and ‘genetically engineered ingredient’ 
have the meanings given the terms in section 
403(z).’’. 
(2) FALSE GUARANTY.—Section 301(h) of the 
Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 
331(h)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or 303(d)(2)’’ 
after ‘‘section 303(c)(2)’’. 
(d) UNINTENDED CONTAMINATION.—Section 303(d) 
of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 
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333(d)), as amended by subsection (b), is further amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(3)(A) No person shall be subject to the pen-
alties of subsection (a)(1) for a violation of sub-
section (a), (b), or (c) of section 301 involving food 
that is misbranded within the meaning of section 
403(z) if— 
‘‘(i) such person is an agricultural pro-
ducer and the violation occurs because food that 
is grown, raised, or otherwise produced by such 
producer, which food does not contain a geneti-
cally engineered material and was not produced 
with a genetically engineered material, is con-
taminated with a food that contains a geneti-
cally engineered material or was produced with 
a genetically engineered material; and 
‘‘(ii) such contamination is not intended by 
the agricultural producer. 
‘‘(B) Subparagraph (A) does not apply to an 
agricultural producer to the extent that the contami-
nation occurs as a result of the negligence of the 
producer.’’. 
(e) PROMULGATION
OF REGULATIONS.—Not later 
than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary shall promulgate proposed regulations estab-
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lishing labeling requirements for compliance in accordance 
with section 403(z) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cos-
metic Act, as added by subsection (a). 
Æ 
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