Opponents Drop $10 Million in Fight Against Labeling Genetically Modified Foods

In the race of funding both sides of Prop 37, the opposition just leaped ahead with a huge advantage. According to the most recent filings with the California Secretary of State, nearly $10 million has been added to fight the proposed law that would require additional labeling of products sold in California if using genetically modified ingredients. Voters will take up the issue on the November ballot.

Here's how drastically it changed. As of August 8, this is how the competition stacked up, with financial support for Prop 37 taking a slight lead:

Then, as of today:

What happened is this: a half million dollars each was donated late last week by Pepsico, Nestle USA, General Mills, Conagra Foods, and Coca-Cola North America. But the biggest amounts came from a trio of agriculture suppliers: Dupont Pioneer ($2.4 million), Bayer Cropscience ($1 million), and BASF Plant Science ($996,000).

Other No on 37 donations came from J.M. Smucker, Del Monte, Hershey, Ocean Spary Cranberries, Sunny Delight, Sara Lee, Dean Foods, Kellogg Company, Cambell Soup Company, Dole, Land O'Lakes, Godvia Chocolatier, and Morton Salt (Keep up to date with our databases here).

Based on the most current data, the opposition has raised a total of close to $12 milion from 90 donations, all from businesses. Meanwhile, Yes on 37 is more grassroots, swelling to over 1,400 donations, mostly from individuals, but only raising close to $3 million. And some businesses are also throwing their weight behind it. They include Mercola.com, Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps, Nature's Path Food, and Amy's Kitchen.