From: Mark & Ashley Flory [ashleymk@us.net]
Sent: Tuesday, April 03, 2001 11:20 PM
To: fdadockets@oc.fda.gov
Subject: Docket 00N-1396 & Docket 00D-1598

I am writing to comment on FDA's proposed rule concerning genetically
engineered food.  As currently written, the rules fail to ensure public
access to adequate information for independent review.  The FDA must
require mandatory pre-market comprehensive environmental review. Unlike
conventional pollutants, where a 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.

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.

I request that these rules be redrafted to reflect the legitimate
concerns of many American consumers:  we want to know what we are
eating, where it came from, and that its production is not causing
irreparable harm to our natural environment or our own health.

Specifically, I want the rules to:

       1. Require mandatory pre-market safety testing
       2. Require pre-market environmental review
       3. Require mandatory labeling of GE foods
       4. Allow voluntary labeling of non-GE foods


Sincerely,

Mark Flory
12 Valley View Avenue
Takoma Park, MD 20912