From: theboyds@iswt.com
Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2001 6:54 AM
To: fdadockets@oc.fda.gov
Subject: What's in your food? (FDA Dockets 00N-1396 and 00D-1598)


Dear Corporate and Government Leaders,

Neither government nor industry is protecting Americans from the risks posed to human health and the environment by genetically engineered (GE) foods. The Food and Drug Administration's "new" policy on GE foods (proposed January 18, 2001) continues to let the biotech industry regulate itself; it fails to require the long-term, pre-market safety testing demanded by independent experts. The "voluntary labeling" guidelines are a wholly inadequate response to the overwhelming public support for mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods. Therefore, I urge you to keep all genetically engineered ingredients and crops off the market unless:

1) Independent safety testing demonstrates they have no harmful effects on human health or the environment, 

2) They are labeled to ensure the consumer's right-to-know, and 

3) The biotechnology corporations that manufacture them are held accountable for any harms they may cause.


We have a right to know what we are consuming. The burden of proof should be on the producer that it causes no harm rather than the consumer having to prove that it does.  There is no way for the producer to prove that it causes no harm until it has been tested for years.


Sincerely

patsy boyd
120 lewis street
paris, Tennessee 38242