Fwd: FDA Policy on GE Foods: from bad to worse

[Guest guest]

Tue, 17 Jun 2003 23:23:54 -0700

News Update from The Campaign

FDA Policy on GE Foods: from bad to worse

 

News Update From The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods

----

 

Dear News Update Subscribers,

 

In an incredible act of irresponsibility, the U.S. Food and Drug

Administration (FDA) has backpedaled on their already inadequate policy

of regulating genetically engineered foods.

 

In January 2001, the FDA issued " Proposed Rules " that if implemented

would have required biotech companies to notify the agency before

bringing a new genetically engineered food to market. However, the FDA

never issued the " Final Rules " that would have made mandatory

notification the law.

 

On Tuesday, FDA Deputy Commissioner Lester Crawford told a Congressional

committee that they no longer felt that mandatory notification is a

priority.

 

Before introducing the January 2001, Proposed Rules, the FDA had stated

they were going to make mandatory consultation a requirement. But when

they issued the Proposed Rules, they changed it from mandatory

consultation to mandatory notification. Now they are telling the biotech

companies they are not even required to notify the FDA before bringing a

new product to market.

 

Is it any wonder that European Union nations and countries around the

world are concerned about the safety of genetically engineered foods?

How can they have trust in the safety of genetically engineered foods

when the U.S. agency charged with protecting human health has written

themselves out of the regulatory oversight policy?

 

The FDA has essentially said to Monsanto and the other biotech

companies, " We trust you to do adequate safety testing. " But can we

trust Monsanto?

 

Monsanto is a company that just last year was found guilty in Alabama on

issues regarding PCBs on all six charges the jury considered:

negligence, wantonness, suppression of the truth, nuisance, trespass and

outrage.

 

Will Monsanto suppress the truth when it comes to genetically engineered

foods? And what about that " outrage " charge against Monsanto? Under

Alabama law, the charge of " outrage " requires conduct " so outrageous in

character and extreme in degree as to go beyond all possible bounds of

decency so as to be regarded as atrocious and utterly intolerable in

civilized society. "

 

In spite of this track record, the FDA is apparently trusting Monsanto

and other biotech companies to be honest when it comes to the safety of

genetically engineered foods. Perhaps the FDA has more confidence in

Monsanto than many concerned citizens from around the world?

 

Is there is a positive side to this new position by the FDA? Well, it

does provide those of us questioning the safety of genetically

engineered foods with more evidence that the regulatory oversight in the

United States is grossly inadequate. And we will use this evidence as we

make our case to Congress about the need to label and safety test

genetically engineered foods.

 

We expect the labeling and safety testing legislation to get

re-introduced before Congress in the next few weeks. We will let you

know when to start asking your members of Congress to co-sponsor the

legislation.

 

Posted below is an Associated Press article titled " FDA Opts Against

Further Biotech Review " that provides further information on the latest

FDA policy.

 

Craig Winters

Executive Director

The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods

 

The Campaign

PO Box 55699

Seattle, WA 98155

Tel: 425-771-4049

Fax: 603-825-5841

E-mail: label

Web Site: http://www.thecampaign.org

 

Mission Statement: " To create a national grassroots consumer campaign

for the purpose of lobbying Congress and the President to pass

legislation that will require the labeling of genetically engineered

foods in the United States. "

 

***************************************************************

 

FDA Opts Against Further Biotech Review

 

Posted on Tue, Jun. 17, 2003

 

EMILY GERSEMA

Associated Press

 

WASHINGTON - Genetically engineered foods from crops that have already

been reviewed and approved by two government agencies shouldn't have to

jump through a third regulatory hoop at the Food and Drug

Administration, an FDA official told Congress Tuesday.

 

FDA Deputy Commissioner Lester Crawford said the agency is inclined to

reject a proposal made by the former Clinton administration that would

require biotechnology companies to notify the FDA before putting

products on the market.

 

Biotech crops are already regulated by the Agriculture Department and

the Environmental Protection Agency.

 

" The current system is working, " Crawford told the House Agriculture

Committee's subcommittee on research. " Since there is no public health

reason to impose mandatory requirements, FDA is not making this rule a

priority. "

 

Crawford said he knows of no instance where a company has not

voluntarily shared field tests and other information on its biotech

products with the FDA. But Greg Jaffe, biotechnology director for the

Center for Science in the Public Interest, said that without a

regulation requiring it, companies could withhold data.

 

" Under the current system, they could market something without us even

knowing it, " Jaffe said. " That is not the best way to ensure the safety

or instill consumer confidence in these crops. "

 

Lisa Dry, a spokeswoman for the Biotechnology Industry Organization,

said companies share their data with the FDA because after a review, the

agency gives them a letter approving the products.

 

Without the letter, a company would never be able to get its biotech

crops to market, she said, explaining that food processors require the

letter in order to do business. " They treat it as though it were

mandatory because if they don't, they won't get a letter of review so

that they can sell their product. "

 

The EPA also has a role in checking food safety if a company is seeking

approval to grow a crop genetically designed to contain a pesticide to

fight insects. The EPA approves those crops only if they are safe for

people to eat and if they won't harm the environment.

 

The Agriculture Department is charged with monitoring the safety of

biotech crops from the time they are planted until harvest in small

field tests. The department approves the crop to go to market if the

test results show it will not harm animals and plants, but it does not

determine whether it is safe for humans.

 

The subcommittee's chairman, Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Okla., said he's

" confident that these three agencies have established a regulatory

framework that ensures biotech products are safely developed and

field-tested. "

 

ON THE NET

 

Food and Drug Administration: http://www.fda.gov

 

***************************************************************

 

If you would like to comment on this News Update, you can do so at the

forum section of our web site at: http://www.thecampaign.org/forums

 

***************************************************************

 

 

 

---------

 

 

 

Gettingwell- / Vitamins, Herbs, Aminos, etc.

 

To , e-mail to: Gettingwell-

Or, go to our group site: Gettingwell

 

 

 

SBC DSL - Now only $29.95 per month!