From: Munoz, Julie [julie_munoz@btc.adaptec.com]
Sent: Tuesday, April 03, 2001 6:44 PM
To: 'fdadockets@oc.fda.gov'
Subject: Docket 00N-1396 & Docket 00D-1598
 
I just received an email that states that the FDA is accepting comments from the public on the release of Genetically Engineered (GE)food.  It stated that the proposed rules are:

* Do not require mandatory pre-market safety testing 
* Do not require pre-market environmental review 
* Do not require mandatory labeling of GE foods 
* Restrict voluntary labeling of non-GE foods 
* Require a mere letter of notification prior to the marketing of a GE food 
* Fail to ensure public access to adequate information for independent review 
* Are supported by industry and opposed by consumer groups

 

We live in a day and age when our soils are depleted of nutritional minerals.  We are eating foods filled with chemicals, preservatives, and additives.  Food allergies are at an all-time high.  Most of the food we eat has very little nutritional value.  Imported fruits and vegetables are causing illness and allergies in infants, children and the elderly because they lack the stringent controls that US grown foods have.  Many of our major illnesses MAY be impacted by the foods – fibromyalgia, lupus, MS, and many others.

 

And  now the FDA is considering allowing GE foods without mandatory pre-market safety testing and mandatory labeling?  The general public would be without resources on trying to track down the cause of changes to their health and well being.  What you ate last week and was not labeled as GE food could be the cause or contributor.  If you are wanting to eliminate a portion of the general public, this sounds like a possible way to do it.  Most at risk would he the young, the old, or the already ill.  We have no idea what GE foods will do to the human body – or the environment.  I read labels to try to be as safe as possible.  The above rules, if followed, would make the reading of labels a useless task.

 

You, the FDA, is our final protection from things in the food and environment that can have lethal effects on us. PLEASE, do not allow these products on the market without appropriate and stringent requirements.  And certainly, not without appropriate warnings and labels.  The general public does not have the resources to set up labs in their homes to test what they are about to eat!  Please note the statements below.

 

 

 * The FDA must require mandatory pre-market comprehensive environmental review. Unlike conventional pollutants, where a given amount of pollutant causes a limited amount of damage, a small number of mutant genes could have a population explosion and reproduce forever, causing unlimited and irreparable damage.

* The FDA must require mandatory pre-market long-term health testing. GE products could be toxic, cause allergic responses, have lower nutritional value, and compromise immune responses in consumers.

* The FDA must require mandatory labeling of GE products. Without mandatory labeling, neither consumers nor health professionals will know if an allergic or toxic reaction was the result of a genetically engineered food. Consumers would be deprived of the critical knowledge needed to hold food producers liable should any of these novel products be hazardous.

* The FDA must end its cozy relationship with the industries it purports to be regulating. People have been allowed to work for a biotech company, then work for the FDA writing the regulatory rules on that company's product, then go back to working for the company. Ninety-two percent of FDA advisory committee meetings had at least one conflict of interest.