THIRD WORLD NETWORK BIOSAFETY INFORMATION SERVICE
Dear Friends and colleagues,
RE: US Groups File Petition to Insist on Labelling of GE Foods
A Washington-based advocacy group, the Center for Food Safety (CFS), backed by hundreds of consumer, farming and health organizations, is urging federal regulators to require mandatory labeling of genetically engineered (GE) foods, something the biotechnology industry has pushed against, but large numbers of American consumers increasingly say they want.
CFS announced that it is filing a groundbreaking new legal petition with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) demanding that the agency require the labeling of all food produced using genetic engineering.
The FDA has said that genetically modified ingredients do not require labeling because they are "substantially equivalent" to conventional ingredients.
But CFS’s legal petition identifies a number of scientific and legal grounds requiring GE foods be labeled. It maintains that the lack of any labeling makes GE foods misleading and deny consumers the right to choose.
The legal action by CFS requires a formal response from the FDA and is the first step toward ultimately filing a lawsuit against the government agency to try to force labeling, said Andrew Kimbrell, executive director of CFS.
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Item 1
Groups File Legal Petition With FDA Demanding Labeling Of Genetically Engineered Foods
The Center for Food Safety, USA (CFS)
Press Release
(http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/2011/10/04/groups-file-legal-petition-with-fda-demanding-labeling-of-genetically-engineered-foods/)
4 October 2011
Coalition of consumer, environmental, farm groups, and food companies demand FDA issue new regulations on GE foods
Current guidelines are "misleading" and deny consumers their "right to know".
Today, the Center for Food Safety (CFS) announced its filing of a groundbreaking new legal petition with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) demanding that the agency require the labeling of all food produced using genetic engineering. CFS prepared the legal action on behalf of the Just Label It campaign; a number of health, consumer, environmental, farming organizations, and food companies are also signatories.
"FDA’s current policy uses 19th century rationale for a 21st century issue, leaving consumers in the dark to hidden changes to their food," said Andrew Kimbrell, executive director for the Center for Food Safety. "It is long overdue that FDA acknowledge the myriad reasons genetically engineered (GE) foods should be labeled and label these novel foods once and for all."
In 1992, the FDA issued a policy statement that GE foods were not "materially" different and thus did not need to be labeled. The agency severely constricted what it called "material", limiting it to the ability of a change to be tasted, smelled, or known through the other senses.
After almost 20 years, this policy is unfortunately still in effect today.
CFS’s legal petition identifies a number of scientific and legal grounds requiring GE foods be labeled. Most importantly, the current lack of any labeling makes GE foods misleading, in violation of FDA’s duties under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. GE foods‚ differences from conventional foods are underscored by the fact that they are patented for their novelty, yet they remain unlabeled. GE crops have also shown they carry with them significant novel environmental harms, such as transgenic contamination of natural crops and the wild, and massive increases in pesticide use. These differences should mandate labeling.
Unlike time-tested conventional food varieties, which have had centuries to manifest long-term health impacts, the scientific community is still uncovering new and significant information about the human health and environmental impacts of GE foods. FDA also does not do any independent testing of GE foods; in the U.S., food safety oversight is limited to a voluntary consultation with industry. Safety is based on the confidential industry data.
"There have been very few independent, comprehensive studies of their long-term human health and environmental impacts of GE foods," said Dr. Michael Hansen, senior staff scientist at Consumers Union, nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports. "Labeling is the first step to allow consumers to the right to know what is in their food and make informed decisions about what they eat."
Polls consistently show that more than 90 percent of Americans want GE foods to be labeled. Unlike the U.S., the majority of other countries worldwide require some level of GE food labeling.
http://gefoodlabels.org/gmo%20labeling/polls-on-gmo-labeling/
The Center for Food Safety filed the petition on behalf of the Just Label It campaign (www.justlabelit.org), a coalition of more than 350 companies, organizations, scientists, doctors and individuals dedicated to food safety and consumer rights.
With the submission of this petition, FDA must open a public docket where citizens can write in their support for the petition, requesting the agency label GE foods. Citizens can submit comments in support of the legal petition here.
http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/1881/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=5452
The Center for Food Safety is a national, non-profit, membership organization founded in 1997 to protect human health and the environment by curbing the use of harmful food production technologies and by promoting organic and other forms of sustainable agriculture. CFS currently represents nearly 200,000 members across the nation. On the web at: www.centerforfoodsafety.org and www.truefoodnow.org
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Item 2
Gene-Altered Foods Need Mandatory Labels, Coalition Tells FDA
By Molly Peterson
Bloomberg, USA
(http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-04/gene-altered-foods-need-mandatory-labels-coalition-tells-fda.html)
4 October 2011
Genetically engineered corn, soy and plant oil should be disclosed on mandatory food labels, a coalition of more than 350 producers, trade groups and consumers said in a petition to U.S. regulators.
The U.S. should require added disclosure even when a product containing a gene-altered organism is similar to foods that aren’t bioengineered, the groups said today in the petition to the Food and Drug Administration. Stonyfield Farm, the organic-yogurt maker owned by Danone SA, and Dean Foods Co.’s Horizon Organic are among the coalition members.
Petitioners, led by the Washington-based Center for Food Safety, want to reverse a 1992 Food and Drug Administration policy that doesn’t require different labeling. Gene-altered seeds are used for almost 90 percent of U.S.-grown corn, 94 percent of soy and 90 percent of cottonseed, an oil-producing plant, the coalition said.
"Consumers ought to have the right to choose whether to be buying these foods," said Gary Hirshberg, chief executive officer of Londonderry, New Hampshire-based Stonyfield Farm, in an interview. "Polls show a vast majority of Americans say they don’t want to eat genetically engineered foods."
Stonyfield‚s organic yogurt isn‚t made with genetically modified components, Hirshberg said. The U.S. Department of Agriculture bars foods it certifies as organic from containing such ingredients.
Voluntary Disclosure
Under current rules, foodmakers may voluntarily disclose whether a product has gene-altered ingredients, as long as the information is "truthful and not misleading," said Siobhan DeLancey, an FDA spokeswoman, in an e-mail.
Mandatory labels for gene-altered products would mislead consumers "by falsely implying differences where none exist," said Jim Greenwood, president and CEO of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, a Washington trade group.
"Consumers don’t want confusing debates about food politics," said Greenwood in an e-mail. "Consumers want wholesome food at an affordable price. Agricultural biotechnology is one of the tools that ensures our food supply is affordable, reliable and safe."
Mandatory disclosure of bioengineered ingredients may prompt consumers to choose traditionally made products, said Molly Keveney, a spokeswoman for Broomfield, Colorado-based Horizon Organic.
"The whole point of this campaign is to say this is about consumer choice," Keveney said in an interview. "This fits very nicely with what our brand is all about."
The Organic Trade Association in Brattleboro, Vermont, the National Cooperative Grocers Association in Iowa City, Iowa, and Washington-based Food & Water Watch are among other groups that signed the petition to the FDA.
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Item 3
Genetically Modified Foods Should Be Labeled, Group Tells FDA
By Georgina Gustin
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, USA
(http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_372f704c-5631-5be4-8d90-0522c91ec64c.html)
5 October 2011
A Washington-based advocacy group, backed by hundreds of consumer, farming and health organizations, is asking federal regulators to require mandatory labeling of genetically modified foods something the biotechnology industry has pushed against, but American consumers increasingly say they want.
The Center for Food Safety filed a petition Tuesday asking the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to require labeling of any food product that contains genetically modified ingredients. The agency will have 180 days to respond and will have to open up a comment period.
"President Obama, during the 2008 campaign, said he was for labeling. We want to hold him to that promise," said Andrew Kimbrell, the center’s executive director.
"We have an absolutely unprecedented coalition. We have the outreach to get 4 million comments to the FDA. It’s an election year, and we think he can do the math."
An estimated 60 percent of the processed food on American grocery store shelves contains genetically modified ingredients, mostly from soy and corn. Roughly half the sugar sold in American stores comes from genetically modified sugar beets. Some whole foods, such as papaya, squash and sweet corn sold in American stores, are also genetically altered. The FDA is also considering a genetically modified salmon.
Monsanto Co., based in Creve Coeur, is the world‚s largest maker of genetically modified soy and corn seed. The company also owns the technology in genetically modified sugar beets, and recently got approval to sell genetically modified sweet corn. (Sweet corn is the type people eat whole. The majority of genetically modified corn, and the majority of corn grown in the country, is made into high-fructose corn syrup, ethanol and feed for animals.)
Monsanto and the biotechnology industry at large have said they do not support labeling genetically modified foods.
"The safety and benefits of genetically modified crops are well established. Products being grown by U.S. farmers have been thoroughly reviewed by the US Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency," said Thomas Helscher, a Monsanto spokesperson, in a written response.
"The safety has been confirmed by food safety authorities in other countries, and these products have been approved for growing or importing in 59 countries."
The FDA has said that genetically modified ingredients do not require labeling because they are "substantially equivalent" to conventional ingredients. While American regulators require reviews of genetically modified crops, the FDA does not perform mandatory safety testing.
The European Union, Japan, Russia, Australia, Brazil and China all require labeling of genetically modified foods. Polls show that 90 percent of Americans support labeling.