From: cleo2001@webtv.net
Sent: Tuesday, February 06, 2001 1:03 AM
To: fdadockets@oc.fda.gov
Subject: Docket No. 00N-1396, and 00D-1598



Jane Henney
Dockets Management Branch, Food and Drug Administration
5630 Fisher's Lane, Room 1061
Rockville, MD 20852

Dear Jane Henney,

The new regulations and guidelines put forward by your
agency on genetically engineered (GE) foods are a disappointment
for American consumers.  As you know, genetically engineered
foods can be toxic, cause allergic responses, have
lower nutrition value, compromise immune responses
in consumers, and cause irreparable damage to the environment.
I am also greatly opposed to your new "voluntary labeling"
policy, which denies consumers a basic right to know.
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
will also be deprived of the critical knowledge they
need to hold food producers liable should any of these
foods prove hazardous. And because there are ecological
risks associated with genetically engineered crops,
such as impacts on the soil ecosystem and non-target
species like Monarch butterflies, consumers may want
to avoid them.  We need labeling to be able to make
an educated decision.  I trust you will take my concerns
into serious consideration. 



Sincerely,


charlene bryant
497 crestview road
stuart, Virginia 24171