Read Any Good Fruit?

The radical gap between Americans' tolerance for genetically modified foods and Europeans' broad rejection of them has become a commonplace, but also a conundrum. Does the difference reflect consumer choice or producers' offerings? Or has it become a kind of marker gene of European lifestyles versus those of the Americans? The European Commission set the stage for an answer last week when, after nine months of deliberation and missed deadlines, it finally announced a proposal for the strict labeling of GM foods.

The new proposal, which will have to be approved by the European Parliament and the 15...