Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the “Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act.” The interesting part about its passage, and HR 1599’s existence, is that it actually proposes to do the exact opposite, at least when it comes to the accuracy part.

The bill bans the Food and Drug Administration, as well as trumps any state regulation, from introducing any requirement to have genetically modified food labeled as exact what it is: genetically modified food.

With an exploding population worldwide, and the growing need for food, scientists have joined the food fray, altering the DNA of plants to withstand heavy herbicides and produce and insecticide. The idea is that this will increase the yield of crops: more yield equals more food for the public and more money for growers. But genetic modification can also create apples that don’t brown or potatoes that don’t bruise during the trip from field to grocery store. They can create produce with more nutrients and could, conceivably, contain vaccinations in the future.

But there are two issues at stake. In more than 60 countries around the world, there are restrictions, if not outright bans, on the production and sale of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) because they don’t consider them safe. The other issue is that most Americans want to know what’s in their food.

No one really knows whether GMOs are safe. Studies have been done that say they’re fine and are indeed more beneficial nutritionally. Other studies say they’re not — they can cause harm to major organs. Another concern is the increased usage of heavy-duty herbicides classified as “probable carcinogens” on GMOs, and potential long-term effects.

The Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act is a little deceptive: it actually would allow genetically modified food to be labeled “natural.” To say a banana producing its own insecticide is “natural” is not really “accurate” at all.

Whether a person falls on the “for” or “against” side of GMOs, what every person should be concerned about is that this federal legislation takes away Americans’ right to know what’s in their food. And that’s just unnatural.