From: Center for Food Safety [action@foodsafetynow.org] Sent: Saturday, March 31, 2001 11:42 AM To: FDA Commissioner Cc: president@whitehouse.gov; vice.president@whitehouse.gov; fdadockets@oc.fda.gov; fdadockets@oc.fda.gov Subject: Oppose the New FDA Regulations on GE Foods! FDA Commissioner Dockets Management Branch (HFA 305) Food and Drug Administration 5630 Fisher's Lane, rm. 1061 Rockville, MD 20852 RE: Docket No. 00N-1396, and 00D-1598 Dear FDA, I am concerned by your new policies on genetically engineered (GE)foods. Despite overwhelming consumer demand, your agency still fails to require safety testing and mandatory labeling for GE foods. Until we know without a doubt that gentically engineered(genes recombined) is safe it is irresponsible to ignore strong scientific evidence of numerous potential health and environmental risks from GE foods. You should be aware that these foods could be toxic, could cause allergic responses, could have lower nutrition value, could compromise immune responses in people, and could cause unknown (unforeseen) damage to the environment. I am also greatly opposed to your new “voluntary labeling” policy, which denies American citizens a basic right to know. Without mandatory labeling, neither consumers nor health professionals will know if an allergic or toxic reaction was the result of a genetically engineered food. The public will also be deprived of the critical knowledge they need to avoid food producers products should any of these novel foods prove hazardous. Your proposed rules ignore serious concerns, and appear to be a decision made to convenience industry at the expense of public health and the environment. I resent your attempt to make me a guinea pig of these untested foods, and I trust you will take my concern along with the thousands of others into serious consideration. Are we going to become a democracy of the corporation, by the corporation, for the corporation. The constitutions says We The People of the United States by the people, for the people. Corporations are not citizens or individual flesh and blood that must experience the consequences of the actions of "Business as Usual". Corporations are not democracies. Allow me to keep the rights that our forefathers established and left to us and that we must protect to be passed on to future generations of Americans. Thank-you, Sincerely, Sybil W. Morgan 7501 Newberry Road Oklahoma City, OK, 73141 CC: The President Vice President Dick Cheney FDA Dockets Management [Docket No. 00N-1396] Senator Don Nickles Senator James M. Inhofe Representative J. C. Watts, Jr. Representative Ernest J. Istook, Jr. Representative Frank D. LucasFDA Dockets Management [Docket No. 00D-1598] To the recipient -- this fax/email message has come to you via the Center for Food Safety web site -- a public tool for providing input on food safety issues. The user/site visitor had complete control over editing the content of this message. Thus, the opinions expressed in this message are not necessarily those of CFS or its parent organization, ICTA. Please contact CFS at (202)547-9359 or email office@centerforfoodsafety.org with any questions. Thank you. ___________________________________________________________________________ This letter was composed at www.foodsafetynow.org, a web site maintained by: The Center for Food Safety, 666 Pennsylvania Ave, SE, Suite 302 Washington, DC 20003 PH: (202)547-9359 Fax: (202)547-9429 Email: office@centerforfoodsafety.org web: www.centerforfoodsafety.org