From: Amy Garber [amy@icpsr.umich.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2001 7:03 PM
To: fdadockets@oc.fda.gov
Subject: Docket 00N-1396 & Docket 00D-1598

To those who hold our food fate in their hands:

I am writing to urge you that 
GENETICALLY ENGINEERED PRODUCTS MUST BE
LABELED AND TESTED FOR SAFETY!

I know many people with food allergies who might be suffer terribly
from countless potential irritants and problems unleashed through the
unlabelled, untested "food". Your actions in the name of business
will cause even more Americans to patronize the natural-foods
markets at the expense of other markets and growers. If you think
that this won't hurt the economy, think again. If you think that
you won't be hurting people by allowing us to be guinea pigs for
these experiments, you are extremely naive.

I am appalled that the proposed rules:

* 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

I demand that:

* 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.

What goes around, comes around. How you can sleep at night must
be because you are wallowing in denial. Let the will of common
sense and caution be your guide, and conscience rule over profits!

Amy B. Garber
2504 Hampshire Rd.
Ann Arbor, MI 48104