From: berniewild@aol.com
Sent: Sunday, February 18, 2001 2:16 AM
To: fdadockets@oc.fda.gov
Subject: What's in your food? (FDA Dockets 00N-1396 and 00D-1598)


Dear Corporate and Government Leaders,

Genetically engineered food ingredients or crops should not be allowed on the market until: 

1) Independent safety testing demonstrates they have no harmful effects on human health or the environment, 

2) They are labeled to ensure the consumer's right-to-know, and 

3) The biotechnology corporations that manufacture them are held responsible for any harm.

I am outraged that my right to choose what I eat and feed my family has been so severly limited because the Industry refuses to label Genetically Modified/Genetically Engineered (GM/GE) products.
I have been forced more and more to purchase certified Organic produce and products which can be much more expensive than non-organic produce and products. I am forced to scrutinze each and every label on everything I am concidering buying because quite a few ingredients are likely GM/GE.
When the 'long keeper' tomato was announced some years ago I was excited to check it out and try it. Not one store could tell me which tomatos were the 'longkeepers'. That made me begin to wonder why, if GM/GE products and produce are so safe why aren't the companies shouting it from the roof tops and making sure people knew what they were eating so they would continue purchasing the products.
 As the years have gone by and Montsano et al have fought tooth and nail to keep GM/GE items from being labeled or identified in any way I have become more and more leary of GM/GE items and will no longer purchase items that I am not certain are GM/GE free.




Sincerely

Shari Wildschutte
5206 Clovis Ct.
Concord, California 94521