Discussed the definition of food
During hearings, the Vermont legislature “discussed the definition of food and the contours that they perceived it as," added Daloz, who is working on implementing Vermont’s law through rulemaking. “We drew on that and a broader range of regulatory structures."
Vermont’s groundbreaking and controversial law, Act 120, defines food broadly as “food intended for human consumption." A separate state statute (18 V.S.A. § 4051(4)) on the labeling of foods, drugs, cosmetics and hazardous substances uses the same definition of food as the one found in the Federal Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act (FD&C): “(1) articles used for food or drink for man or other animals, (2) chewing gum, and (3) articles used for components of any such article."
Whether other states would exclude dietary supplements from GE labeling obligations is an open question because only Vermont has gone so far as to draft a rule. In fact, only Vermont, Connecticut and Maine have genetically modified organism (GMO) labeling laws on the books—and the food industry in the latter two states won’t need to adopt regulations immediately because the GMO labeling statutes in Connecticut and Maine don’t go into effect unless neighboring legislatures adopt similar laws.
Connecticut’s Public Act 13-183 includes a definition of food similar to the one contained in the FD&C, and although it excludes certain foods from the labeling requirements, dietary supplements aren’t specifically mentioned.
Justin Prochnow, a Denver-based lawyer with a focus on regulatory and business issues in the food industry, pointed out that dietary supplements are a food subset. “Generally, dietary supplements are food unless they are specifically excluded," said Prochnow of the law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP.