Reply from Kelloggs

[Guest guest]

Please excuse the crossposting. I emailed Kelloggs about using GMO's and this is

the response I got:

 

Rhonda,

 

Thank you for your inquiry regarding biotech foods. As a consumer, you can be

assured that Kellogg would never do anything to compromise the trust you have

placed in us to provide healthful, nutritious and safe food. Our 96-year

reputation depends on it.

 

Biotechnology is not unique to Kellogg, nor to any one company, and

biotechnology-produced grains have been grown in the U.S. for the past decade.

In fact, the Grocery Manufacturers of America estimates that " about 70 percent

of grocery-store food may have been made with biotechnology crops. " (New York

Times, 6/5/00).

 

Kellogg Company, like most other food makers in the nation, buys the ingredients

for its foods on the open market. It is likely, therefore, that all U.S. foods

using these ingredients could have biotech content in the same proportion that

it occurs in the national supply. Consumers can have confidence in their U.S.

food supply because it is one of the safest in the world, thanks to highly

sophisticated food science research and the work of regulatory agencies such as

the Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the

Environmental Protection Agency.

 

Scientists who specialize in the study of biotechnology at leading universities

and prestigious organizations such as the National Academy of Sciences continue

to affirm the safety of this science for the nation?s food supply and for

reducing the need for pesticides, enhancing crop yields and providing

nutritional benefits. A recent study by the United Nations and World Health

Organization has confirmed that a biotech food " is as safe as its conventional

counterpart. " Likewise, the American Medical Association has released a report

finding that of the 40+ varieties of biotech crops currently in use, no ill

effects on human health or the environment have been detected since modified

foods first hit the market during the past decade.

 

If you would like to learn more about biotechnology, the scientific sites on the

Internet are a great resource. You might want to visit the following web sites

to learn more about why products containing ingredients developed through

biotechnology, are safe.

 

The Alliance for Better Foods www.betterfoods.org

 

U.S. Food and Drug Administration www.fda.gov/oc/biotech/default.htm

 

International Food Information Council www.ificinfo.health.org/index14.htm

 

Some opponents of biotechnology would like consumers to believe that Kellogg

Company has a different policy regarding the use of biotechnology-produced

grains in Europe than in the United States. This simply is not true. Consumer

preference is the critical factor Kellogg uses in determining the products being

provided in each market and those preferences are not the same in every country.

 

Unlike U.S. consumers, European consumers have been subjected to food scares

that were ultimately used by activists to develop an anti-biotech campaign.

Although consumer preferences are different in Europe, biotechnology food

ingredients currently on the market in Europe have been determined to be safe by

the European Union regulatory authority.

 

Also, unlike the United States, European food manufacturers historically had not

purchased biotech grains. For example, Kellogg's supply of corn used in Europe

has never been from a biotech source, but biotech corn has been a significant

part of the U.S. corn supply for about five years.

 

We are as committed today to protecting and promoting consumer confidence in

Kellogg products as our founder, W. K. Kellogg, was when he had his name placed

on every product as his personal assurance of quality. We would never do

anything to compromise this nearly 100-year Kellogg legacy of consumer trust and

loyalty.

 

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to respond.

 

Consumer Affairs

Kellogg Company

 

 

Rhonda

 

http://pages.ivillage.com/dakotahvegan/thegoodlife/index.html

http://www.recipecircus.com/recipes/dakotahvegan

 

ForeverVegan-

 

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The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for

humans any more than black people were made for whites or women for men.

--Alice Walker

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Rhonda wrote (quoting Kelloggs):

>Consumer preference is the critical factor Kellogg uses in determining the

>products being provided in each market and those preferences are not the

>same in every country.

 

How true that is! I've just returned to the US after spending a year in

France and the UK (I'm originally from England). In Both France and the UK,

I met numerous people who avoid buying food made from genetically modified

crops. These people were not otherwise politically active, and were not

vegetarians.

 

Further quoting Kelloggs:

>Unlike U.S. consumers, European consumers have been subjected to food scares

>that were ultimately used by activists to develop an anti-biotech campaign.

 

Unlike European consumers, US consumers have been subjected to empty

reassurances spread by the corporate media. But this can hardly be called a

" campaign " , because it largely involves ignoring any dissenting voices that

call into question the safety of GMOs. The European press is far from

perfect, but at least a few more critical voices manage to be heard than in

the mainstream US press.

 

Gerry