From: Annette Weissbach [weissa@netnet.net]
Sent: Sunday, February 18, 2001 6:00 PM
To: fdadockets@oc.fda.gov; action201@sustainableagriculture.net
Subject: No to GE foods

Dear FDA and the Bush Administration: 

I urge you to require mandatory pre-market safety testing and labeling of genetically engineered foods of any kind.  We are exposing ourselves to unknowns and corporations/shareholders are unaware or inconsiderate of what they are doing.
 
We need our government to protect us from the greed of corporations.  These proposed GE Rules appear to be a decision made to convenience industry at the expense of public health, consumer information, and the environment.  We need trust back into our government to protect the people and not the corporations like Dow, Monsanto, Kraft, etc...

European consumers are adament about not accepting GE foods from America, why would we want them if they don't?  They have experienced one crisis after another from a variety of food related problems.  Why can't we be proactive for once and avoid likely disasters in the future?

GE foods could be toxic, could cause allergic responses, could have lower nutritional value, and could compromise immune responses in consumers.

FDA must require mandatory pre-market environmental review of these unknown foods.  GE crops and foods could cause irreparable damage to the environment by altering natural predators, food sources and who knows what else.

FDA must Require mandatory labeling of GE foods: Without mandatory labeling, neither consumers nor health professionals will know if an allergic or toxic reaction was the result of a genetically engineered food. I, as a consumer, want to know what I am eating.  It is bad enough that we are being exposed to "flavorings, perservatives, and miscellaneous other additions" without our knowledge as to the exact chemistry of these exposures.  
 
thank you,
please do the right thing, our species depends on the government for protection from corporate predation.

Annette Weissbach
Luxemburg, WI