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Six years ago, Americans began eating
genetically engineered food. Surprised? That's because no
one told you.
While other countries require mandatory
labeling of these food ingredients, our FDA
has decided we don't need to know.
Find out
more and take action.
Q:
What is the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) policy
on genetically engineered foods?
A: The FDA
admits it has not "established any regulations specific
to bioengineered food."
In other words, the genetically engineered
foods that are found in thousands of products on our supermarket
shelves have not been subject to any FDA regulation.
There are no requirements for any safety
or environmental tests for GE foods, and there is no
requirement that GE foods are labeled. FDA does
not approve GE foods, it simply allows them into our diets
and our environment. The agency says it needs no such regulations
because genetically engineered (GE) foods are no different
and have no different safety issues than natural foods.
Q:
Why should FDA regulate GE foods differently than other
foods?
A:
The FDA's own scientists found that genetic engineering
is a different
and potentially riskier
technology than natural food production.
They warned that
-
unexpected
allergic reactions
-
increased
levels of food toxins
and other side effects of genetic engineering
could harm human health or the environment.
The FDA scientist who summarized the
opinion of the agency's scientific experts wrote, "(T)he
processes of genetic engineering and traditional breeding
are different, and according to the technical experts in
the agency, they lead to different risks."
Q: Don't some
GE foods have to be labeled?
A: The FDA
says that GE foods must be labeled if they are changed nutritionally
or if an allergen is introduced into food by genetic engineering.
In
fact, none of the GE foods in our supermarkets are labeled.
An editorial in the New England Journal
of Medicine criticized FDA's policy on food allergens, noting
that the agency does not require labeling or testing of
GE foods that contain genes that have never been assessed
for their potential to cause food allergies.
Other GE foods have been changed nutritionally
and functionally, yet the FDA continues to keep consumers
in the dark about these altered foods. For example, "insect
resistant" GE crops are engineered to produce an insect
toxin, so the GE plant is classified as a pesticide.
When you eat GE corn, for example, you
are eating corn that contains a pesticide that has never
before been part of the human diet. The FDA says that these
insect resistant foods are not labeled because pesticide
regulation is EPA's job. When EPA was asked why these foods
are not labeled, they said it was because food labeling
is the FDA's job!
Q: Can't food
companies label their products if they want to?
A: The FDA
says that its new guidelines will enable food companies
to label products voluntarily.
But no food company has voluntarily labeled foods that are
made with GE ingredients. Meanwhile, FDA's guidelines actually
make it more difficult for responsible food companies who
avoid GE foods to label their products as "not genetically
engineered." FDA's
"voluntary" labeling guidelines leave GE foods
unlabeled, while creating obstacles for food
makers who simply want to sell the same non-GE food they
always have.
Q: How has
the FDA's policy changed under its new proposal?
A:
The FDA's proposal for new GE food regulations makes no
substantive changes in its policy; in fact, the agency has
stated that it is reaffirming its original policy.
Instead of requiring safety testing and labeling, FDA's
new policy will merely require biotech companies to notify
the agency when they are about to bring a new GE food to
market. FDA has refused to require pre-market testing and
labeling despite scientific concerns and overwhelming public
demand for labeling.
Q: What can
we do about GE foods?
A: Comments
on the FDA's GE foods proposal can be submitted until May
3rd at http://www.truefoodnow.org.
You can also join the free True Food Network to connect
with thousands of others who want to take action to stop
this genetic experiment on our food and environment.
True
Food Network
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