From: Center for Food Safety [action@foodsafetynow.org] Sent: Saturday, February 17, 2001 8:51 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 understand that the already lax testing and labeling requirements for genetically engineered foods are going to be relaxed even further. I oppose this strenuously!!! I would like to point out that your policies regarding medicines and those regarding GE foods are quite contradictory. My husband works for Eli Lilly and Co., and knows personally how expensive and difficult it is to get a new drug approved by the FDA. Millions of dollars and several years are required before you will permit a new compound to be used in a relatively small number of patients, in very small amounts, for generally limited amounts of time, under the supervision of trained physicians. And even though my husband works in the labeling area of Lilly, and even though you guys often make his job full of headaches, he is very glad that you are so careful. He knows that when I or one of our three children take medicines, they are safe. And we can always read more about the medications in the informative package insert. So why, when it comes to putting a new substance into the entire nation's food supply, for millions of people to use, in perhaps very large quantities, forever, with no medical supervision attending to the issue -- for no one even knows if they are ingesting GE foods or not! -- the seed companies are not required to prove that the GE foods are as nutritious as the open-pollinated or hybrid varieties, or that they are even safe??? And these new organisms can be included in food with no indications on their labels that they are present! Do you see the disconnect here? And now you want to make it so the seed companies can say, "Well, it looks like corn, so it must be OK! Eat up!" and be done with the approval process. I have three beautiful, healthy children, and I'd like to be sure that what I'm feeding them is going to keep them that way. I am not saying that GE foods are dangerous. I don't know if they are; but neither does anyone else, and that is the problem. I'm not saying that genetic engineering does not hold promise for the human race. Perhaps it holds great promise. But before we release these new organisms into the food supply -- not to mention the environment! -- we should know more about them than we do. Essentially, I'm saying that I trust your judgment. I would never give my children medications that you had not approved. All I'm asking is for you to scrutinize each and every GE organism that is proposed for human consumption as carefully as you scrutinize medications. Then require full disclosure of the contents of the foods. That is not unreasonable, and it's imminently fair. Surely, the seed companies, if their GE foods are so harmless, and they are so concerned about bettering life for the human race, could not object to this? So that you know what kind of people are concerned about this issue, I would like you to know that I am not a radical environmentalist, nor a die-hard Democrat, nor a 60s leftover living the bohemian lifestyle. I am 34 years old, a college graduate, and a housewife. My husband is a manager at Lilly and we are therefore in the "upper middle class." We attend church every week, and vote Democratic and Republican with equal frequency. This is not a "fringe" issue. There are people in the GOP's preferred demographic, as you can see, who are concerned about this issue. Please take note, and require of the seed companies the same things you require of the pharmaceutical firms. Thank you, Stephanie Ferguson Stephanie Ferguson 1817 Winding Ridge Avenue Indianapolis, IN, 46217 CC: The President Vice President Dick Cheney FDA Dockets Management [Docket No. 00N-1396] Senator Richard G. Lugar Senator Evan Bayh Representative Dan Burton Representative Julia CarsonFDA Dockets Management [Docket No. 00D-1598] To the recipient -- this fax/email message has come to you via the Center for Food Safety web site -- a public tool for providing input on food safety issues. The user/site visitor had complete control over editing the content of this message. Thus, the opinions expressed in this message are not necessarily those of CFS or its parent organization, ICTA. Please contact CFS at (202)547-9359 or email office@centerforfoodsafety.org with any questions. Thank you. ___________________________________________________________________________ This letter was composed at www.foodsafetynow.org, a web site maintained by: The Center for Food Safety, 666 Pennsylvania Ave, SE, Suite 302 Washington, DC 20003 PH: (202)547-9359 Fax: (202)547-9429 Email: office@centerforfoodsafety.org web: www.centerforfoodsafety.org