Guest guest Posted June 12, 2002 Report Share Posted June 12, 2002 i think my throat is bleeding from screaming over the tommy thompson quote no, we can't label food, that would scare consumers..we can just scare the bejesus out of everyone with color-coded terrorist warnings, bridges full of national guardsmen, anthrax scares, dirty bombs, etc... we can label CD's if they are offensive, but noooo..can't label popcorn that someone added a fish bladder gene to it...nah.... *hits head on monitor* News Update From The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods ---- Dear Health Freedom Fighters, This News Update will cover several items of interest regarding genetically engineered foods. REPRESENTATIVE KUCINICH AND SENATOR HARKIN Representative Dennis Kucinich, primary sponsor of the Genetically Engineered Food Right to Know Act, received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the National Nutritional Foods Association (NNFA) conference in Las Vegas on Saturday. I had the opportunity to meet briefly with Representative Kucinich before his talk. During his presentation to the packed auditorium, Representative Kucinich mentioned me by name and encouraged members of the natural products industry to support the efforts of The Campaign. I also had the chance to speak with Senator Tom Harkin, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, at the NNFA conference. I began my discussion with Senator Harkin by giving him my business card. I stated that I was aware he had received thousands of letters and e-mails about the concern that organic corn was being contaminated with pollen from genetically engineered corn. Senator Harkin quickly acknowledged that this was a problem. Harkin stated that he has friends who are organic farmers and that they had also expressed concern. I asked Senator Harkin if he would hold Senate Agriculture Committee hearings on this matter. He indicated that he thought it would be possible and wrote some notes about the request on the back of my business card. Tom Harkin is up for re-election this year in his home state of Iowa and it looks like it will be a tough battle. Senator Harkin has been the strongest supporter of alternative medicine in the U.S. Senate. His opponent is a doctor who is receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars of campaign contributions from the American Medical Association (AMA). As you may be aware, the AMA has endorsed genetically engineered foods and they are not favorable to alternative medicine. The Campaign hopes that Senator Harkin will move forward on our request to hold Senate Agriculture Committee hearings on the contamination of organic corn. Whether he holds them this year or next year probably has a lot to do with whether he thinks these hearings will help or hurt his chances for re-election. Representative Kucinich feels that it is very important that Senator Tom Harkin gets re-elected to the Senate. The management of The Campaign agrees. We are confident that Senator Harkin will hold hearings on the contamination of organic corn when the timing is right. That may be this year or these hearings may need to wait until next year, depending on what is most politically correct in this important election year. HHS SECRETARY TOMMY THOMPSON Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson told the Biotech Industry Organization (BIO) conference on Monday that " Mandatory labeling will only frighten consumers. Labeling implies that biotechnology products are unsafe. " The Associated Press article posted below titled " White House Opposes Biotech Labels " will provide further details. It is very disappointing news to hear the head of the parent agency that oversees the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) make such a statement. The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods intends to launch an ACTION ALERT against Secretary Tommy Thompson within a week. We feel that it is important that Secretary Thompson hear from concerned citizens that his position is out of line with the will of the American public. PEW INITIATIVE ON FOOD AND BIOTECHNOLOGY The Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology issued a press release on Tuesday with the headline " Limited Federal Funds Spent on Food Allergy Research Means Biotechnology Issues Are Not Being Addressed, New Report Finds. " The press release was issued in conjunction with a new report from the Pew Initiative titled " A Snapshot of Federal Research on Food Allergy: Implications for Genetically Modified Food. " The study reviewed the nine federal agencies or institutes that supervise 33 food allergy research projects. The press release states, " almost no studies examine the allergenicity of novel proteins potentially introduced by foods created through biotechnology. " It is quite amazing how the FDA and the Department of Health and Human Services can claim that there are no harmful health effects from eating genetically engineered foods when there are virtually no safety studies being conducted. The only review process that is being done is from the companies producing these experimental crops. Since the biotech companies have a financial incentive in seeing their new genetically engineered crops brought to market, the potential for conflict of interest is clear. The Pew Initiative press release is posted below and you can read the 37-page report on our web site at: http://www.thecampaign.org/allergy.pdf PEW INITIATIVE TO HOLD NATIONAL FORUM ON LABELING The Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology will be holding a national public forum on labeling genetically engineered foods in Chicago, Illinois on June 27, 2002. I will be one of four panelists on the panel debating the labeling of genetically engineered foods. Posted below is a press release about the event. It will also be broadcast live over the Internet and archived for viewing anytime after the event. If you live in the Chicago area and would like to attend the national public forum on labeling, the contact information is included in the press release below. Seating is limited. 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. " *************************************************************** White House Opposes Biotech Labels Mon Jun 10 By PAUL ELIAS, AP Biotechnology Writer TORONTO (AP) - The Bush administration opposes the labeling of genetically engineered food, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson told the world's premier biotechnology industry gathering. " Mandatory labeling will only frighten consumers, " he said during a breakfast speech Monday at the BIO 2002 conference. " Labeling implies that biotechnology products are unsafe. " Labeling food produced through genetic engineering is a touchy subject for the U.S. biotech industry, both at home and abroad. Domestically, the industry worries that labels would sour consumer demand. Abroad, however, 19 countries require labeling and the European Union has since 1998 banned the sale of any new engineered products. The ban has angered U.S. exporters and hampered the growth of European agricultural biotech firms. The EU is expected to consider lifting the ban later this year, but may require labeling. Some 70 percent of the world's biotech food is grown in the United States. Soy and corn genetically engineered to be pest- or herbicide-resistant are used in a wide variety of foods and drinks. The Food and Drug Administration says the ingredients are just as safe as those produced by conventional methods. U.S. officials have said the labeling could cost U.S. companies $4 billion a year. Thompson said biotechnology can lead to safer food that are better for the environment because of improved crop yields, among other benefits. Critics complain that not enough testing has been done to determine the long-term health effects of splicing the genes of two species together to create food. " The science is so immature, we don't know what we are doing, " Canadian genetics professor David Suzuki said at an anti-biotech rally in a Toronto park on Sunday. If you took Bono out of U2 and stuck him in the Toronto Symphony and said make music, noise would come out but you have no way of knowing what it would sound like. " Thompson on Monday also called on drug makers to lower their costs and promised to overhaul the approval process of the FDA. " We are creating an FDA where risk management is the rule and not the exception, " he said. " You will not recognize the FDA a year from now. " He said the FDA currently treats all applications the same, whether its for cosmetics or lifesaving drugs. While the FDA is streamlining its application process, Thompson called on drug makers to lower the cost of their products. " They're looked at as part of the problem instead of part of the solution, " he told a news conference. Some drugs sold in the United States sell for 40 percent less in other countries, including Canada, Thompson noted. If drug companies don't heed the call to lower their prices, public and regulatory pressure could ultimately lead to price controls, he said. Thompson also said that the impact on his department of President Bush's proposal to create a Department of Homeland Security have not yet been detailed. Bush proposed to move 300 workers, mostly involved with bioterrorism research, and $4 billion from Thompson's agency to the new department. Thompson also said a permanent FDA chief could be nominated " within a few weeks. " The post has been vacant since Bush's inauguration. *************************************************************** For Immediate Release: June 11, 2002 Contact: DJ Nordquist 202.347.9132 (direct) or 202-347-9044 ext. 246 Limited Federal Funds Spent on Food Allergy Research Means Biotechnology Issues Are Not Being Addressed, New Report Finds Washington, DC - The science needed for government regulators to assess allergies in genetically engineered foods could be greatly improved, according to a new report issued today from the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology. The report, " A Snapshot of Federal Research on Food Allergy: Implications for Genetically Modified Food, " found that nine federal agencies or institutes currently supervise 33 food allergy research projects totaling between $4.2 and $7 million, but that those funds are spread thin and with little coordination among federal agencies or between research teams. Moreover, the study found that the existing research focuses on known allergens such as peanuts and milk, and that almost no studies examine the allergenicity of novel proteins potentially introduced by foods created through biotechnology. In other words, the funds that have been committed to address the problem are not being strategically allocated to ensure research needs and opportunities are fully met. Food allergy is an immune-mediated disease caused by food antigens; it occurs only among people who are sensitive to those antigens. As many as 10 million Americans are estimated to have allergies to one or more foods, and for them, reactions to those foods can result in illness or even death. Little is known today about why some people have reactions to food in general. In addition, the increasing use of genetically modified (GM) crops raises several issues relevant to food allergies. On the one hand, biotechnology may help remove or change proteins that can cause allergies, but genetically modified foods could also introduce new proteins into foods that could cause allergic reactions. Without prior experience with the new protein, it is difficult for regulators to predict the potential of the protein to be a serious allergen. GM foods currently on the market have been screened for possible allergenicity problems. But some new GM foods may be difficult to judge with current science, as illustrated recently in the case of StarLink, a type of genetically modified corn that was approved for use only in animal feed because it could not be shown that the new protein in the corn was not an allergen. " Almost two years ago, Starlink accidentally made its way into the human food supply, " noted Michael Rodemeyer, executive director of the Initiative. " After massive consumer product recalls, lawsuits, buybacks from farmers and a disruption to American farm export markets that continues today, we still lack answers to the basic science questions posed by government regulators whether StarLink was or was not an allergen, " he said. " Was the Starlink recall even necessary for allergy reasons? We just don't know. " Unfortunately, this lack of scientific knowledge is hindering both the government as well as the private sector -- we need to invest in the science to give regulators the tools and information they need to evaluate new products and protect the public, " he concluded Drs. Lynn R. Goldman and Luca Bucchini of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health conducted the study. The authors reviewed food allergy research funded by the federal government and aimed at investigating food safety. Research abstracts were sourced from CRISP (Computer Retrieval of Information on Scientific Projects), a database of research supported by the Department of Health and Human Services, and CRIS (Current Research Information System), a database supported by the US Department of Agriculture as well as additional sources. Because of the way CRISP and CRIS are maintained, the study is a snapshot in time; it captures research projects that were active in Q3 2001 and does not account for studies that may have just been completed or that will soon be approved. The study also does not include research undertaken by the private sector, NGOs or states, which all may have an impact on the advancement of food allergy research but are not easily investigated. The study did not include ongoing federal research projects that more generally investigate allergy and may, in time, produce results that contribute to understanding of food allergy. For a copy of the study, go to: http://www.pewagbiotech.org/research/allergy.pdf The Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research project whose goal is to inform the public and policymakers on issues about genetically modified food and agricultural biotechnology, including its importance, as well as concerns about it and its regulation. It is funded by a grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts to the University of Richmond. *************************************************************** " Labeling Genetically Modified Foods: Communicating or Creating Confusion? " National Policy Forum To Be Held in Chicago Consumer Activists, Food Manufacturers and Academics to Debate Whether To Label Genetically Modified Foods Washington, D.C. -- The Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology announced today that it is hosting a policy dialogue, " Labeling Genetically Modified Foods: Communicating or Creating Confusion? " on June 27, 2002 from 12 noon to 1.30pm CST (1pm - 2.30 EST) in the Paris South Room of The Hotel Monaco, 225 North Wabash, in downtown Chicago. Dan Charles, Contributing Science Correspondent for National Public Radio and author of Lords of The Harvest: Biotech, Big Money and the Future of Food, will moderate the lively discussion with consumer activists, a major food company representative and academic researchers. " One of the most contentious issues in the debate over the use of agricultural biotechnology has been over whether or not foods made with genetically modified ingredients should be labeled as such, " said Michael Rodemeyer, executive director of the Initiative. " We are pleased to provide a forum for all viewpoints on this issue to engage one another and help illuminate the discussion in a moderated, thoughtful manner. " Panelists are: *Professor Jonathan K. Frenzen, Clinical Professor of Marketing at the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business, who has researched consumer attitudes toward GMOs and believes mandatory labels are an ineffective way to communicate information to the average consumer. *Gregory Jaffe, Director of the Biotechnology Project at the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). CSPI has taken the position that the best way to ensure consumer confidence in GM foods is to improve the U.S. regulatory system and that food labeling should not be a substitute for safety. *Austin P. Sullivan, Jr., Senior Vice President of Corporate Relations at General Mills. Inc., who believes that mandatory labeling of biotech ingredients would, perversely, limit consumer choice, retard the development of a beneficial technology that has repeatedly been found to be safe, and that voluntary labeling is a far more efficient way to provide market-based choices for consumers. *Craig Winters, Executive Director of the Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods. The Campaign has been leading a national grassroots effort to get Congress to pass legislation that will require the mandatory labeling of foods that have been genetically engineered. Note: The dialogue will also be presented via a live Internet webcast. To watch go to www.PewAgBiotech.org or www.ConnectLive.com/events/pewagbiotech To attend the lunch event live in Chicago, please RSVP to DJ Nordquist at djnordquist < TITLE= " djnordquist " TARGET= " _blank " >djnordquist or call (202) 347-9132. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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