General Mills Investors Reject Anti-GMO Proposal

Conservative group touts 97% no vote on requiring General Mills products to be non-GMO

Published on: Sep 24, 2014

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General Mills shareholders on Tuesday voted against proposal 5, a resolution to remove genetically crops as food ingredients from the company's offerings.

According to the National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank, the resolution was supported by the claim that "genetic engineering involves significant risks to the environment, food security, and public health."

Related: GMO Activists Make Headway In Cereal Category

At the meeting, proposal opponent Justin Danhof, National Center Free Enterprise Project Director, said, in part, that "anti-GMO activists are part of a wide-scale, anti-scientific effort to scare Americans away from perfectly healthy foods and life-saving technological agricultural advancements," NCPPR said.
Conservative group touts 97% no vote on requiring General Mills products to be non-GMOConservative group touts 97% no vote on requiring General Mills products to be non-GMO
A tally of the preliminary vote at the meeting showed that more than 97% of General Mills shareholders voted against the proposal.

"By removing GM ingredients from original Cheerios back in January, the company perhaps put a target on its back for GMO opponents to exploit, but today these activists were soundly rejected," Danhof said.

General Mills CEO Ken Powell said the company stands by the overwhelming research and studies that show GMOs are safe, and also touted the environmental and humanitarian benefits which they hold. In the meeting, Powell affirmed that the company would keep GM ingredients in its remaining Cheerios cereals, NCPPR said.

Today's meeting is not the first occasion in which company investors have sided with the National Center concerning a GMO proposal.

Related: Environmental Groups Greedy for Another Victory Over GMOs

In January, the National Center urged Monsanto investors to reject a shareholder proposal from anti-GMO groups that would have required the company to work directly with the FDA towards mandatory GMO labeling. At Monsanto's annual shareholder meeting, the proposal was defeated with more than 95% of the company's shareholders voting against it.

The National Center's Free Enterprise Project is a free-market corporate activist group that advances free-market ideals in the areas of health care, energy, taxes, subsidies, regulations, religious freedom, media bias, gun rights and others.

Source: National Center for Public Policy Research