SALEM - Hoping to squash any future attempts by local governments to impose their own food labeling laws, the House on Friday unanimously passed a bill to prohibit labeling requirements more stringent than federal standards.

Backers say the proposal aims to pre-empt efforts like last year's Ballot Measure 27, which sought to require labeling of genetically modified foods sold in Oregon.

"Local governments have gone forward with many ideas that go beyond federal laws," said Rep. Jeff Kropf, a Sublimity Republican who sponsored the bill. "This pre-emption avoids the crazy, quilt and patchwork laws" that could result if cities came up with their own requirements.

The bill, approved 43-8, now moves to the Senate.

More than a dozen states have adopted their own labeling standards on certain foods to make up for perceived gaps in the policies of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Oregon's own open date labeling law, which informs customers how long a perishable food can be sold as fresh, is tougher than federal standards.

The House bill passed Friday wouldn't ban efforts by the Oregon Legislature or statewide initiatives to raise standards. It would only prevent local governments from doing so on their own.

Before the vote, opponents of the bill, all Democrats, argued that the proposal was a solution looking for a problem.

"What cities are currently doing this?" said Rep. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene.

Kropf answered that he wasn't aware of any.

"Then there is no reason to address something that hasn't occurred," Prozanski said.

The food industry spent more than $5 million to defeat Measure 27 last November, possibly the most ever spent on an Oregon ballot measure.

Groups such as the Oregon Grocery Association and the Oregon Farm Bureau argued that any added requirements would put state producers at a competitive disadvantage.

They hope this House bill will help them avoid other battles on the local level.

Opponents said local control was a right of local governments, regardless of costs.

Laws that are "one size fits all are not always best," said Rep. Kelly Wirth, D-Corvallis.

Wirth gave the example of milk available at many Oregon supermarkets that contained rBGH, or genetically engineered Bovine Growth Hormone, which is injected into lactating cows so they produce more milk.

She said the label made no mention of the hormone, which is approved by the FDA but banned in many countries because some say it's linked to cancer.

Local governments should be allowed to assess those risks for themselves, Wirth said.

"People can buy organic foods if that's what they feel strongly about," Kropf answered.

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On the Net:

HB2957

http://www.leg.state.or.us