From: Center for Food Safety [action@foodsafetynow.org]
Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2001 4:42 PM
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 outraged, but not surprised by your new policies on genetically 
 engineered (GE)foods. Despite overwhelming consumer demand, your agency 
still fails to require safety testing or at the least mandatory labeling 
for GE foods. Your “notification” policy is insulting to consumers, and 
irresponsibly ignores strong scientific evidence of numerous potential 
health and environmental risks to GE foods. Look at Olestra. You should be 
aware that these foods could be toxic, could cause allergic responses, 
could have lower nutrition value, could compromise immune responses in 
consumers, and could cause irreparable damage to the environment. 

We as consumers should have a basic right to know what we're eating. This 
is why I am staunchly opposed to your new “voluntary labeling” policy. We 
both know that without  mandatory labeling food producers won't tell us if 
it is, and without mandatory labeling, neither consumers nor health 
professionals will know if an allergic or toxic reaction was the result of 
a genetically engineered food.  Perhaps this is what you want, since then 
consumers would also be deprived of the critical knowledge they need to 
hold food producers liable should any of these novel foods prove 
hazardous. Perhaps we should just hold the FDA liable.

Your proposed rules ignore serious concerns, and appear to be a decision 
made to convenience industry at the expense of public health, public 
confidence in the FDA and the environment. I will not accept 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. 

Until then I and others like me will seek out other sources of information 
on our food products. They may be accurate, they may not be, but it will 
be more information than you are providing to us at this time. We want to 
have faith that the food we eat is good for us. We want to trust you to do 
the right thing, but we can't until you put our interests ahead of 
companies like Monsanto and others. 


Sincerely,



Patricia Friedman
4934 E. Palm Lane
Phoenix, az, 85008

CC: 
The President
Vice President Dick Cheney
FDA Dockets Management [Docket No. 00N-1396]
Senator John McCain
Senator Jon Kyl
Representative Jeff Flake
Representative Ed PastorFDA Dockets Management [Docket No. 00D-1598]


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