From: CyberBrook [Brook@california.com]
Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2001 9:07 PM
To: fdadockets@oc.fda.gov
Subject: re: dockets 00N-1396 and 00D-1598

FDA Commissioner Jane Henney
   Dockets Management Branch (HFA 305)
   Food and Drug Administration

	We're writing to voice our strong disapproval and disappointment with the 
authoritarian policy of not testing and labeling genetically engineered 
foods. Both the current and proposed standards do not require testing and 
labeling, which we find upsetting, outrageous, and arrogant, as well as 
potentially dangerous and even deadly. Just as we want to, and indeed 
should, know other nutritional information, including that for calories, 
fat, vitamins and minerals, sodium, sugars, fiber, etc., we would also want 
to know the chemicals used to produce the food and whether or not the food 
was genetically engineered, especially when it contains genes from another 
species. This is particularly important for people who are vegetarian, 
Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and those who have allergies and other 
health issues.
	It is an integral part of democratic theory that the government should 
have the informed consent of the governed. Without mandatory testing and 
labeling of our food, there is not enough information and therefore no 
consent. You are not speaking in our name and are not representing our 
interests or the interests of the environment. Testing and labeling 
genetically engineered food would contribute to increased public 
information and increased public health. We should, of course, be 
protecting consumers in their need rather than corporations in their greed. 
We're counting on you and the FDA to do just that and we want to see 
results not rhetoric.
	If you're unwilling to ban genetically engineered food altogether, which 
would be preferable, it should at least be tested and labeled. Supporting 
organic agriculture would be a much wiser, and much healthier, policy 
choice, but in the meantime the testing and labeling of genetically 
engineered foods is absolutely necessary.

Sincerely,

Dan Brook, Ph.D.
Julie Brook, J.D.

150 Font Blvd.
San Francisco, CA 94132