From: William A. Durfey [bill@wadurfey.com]
Sent: Saturday, March 24, 2001 1:21 AM
To: fdadockets@oc.fda.gov
Subject: Docket 00N-1396 & Docket 00D-1598

To Whom It May Concern:

 

 

As representatives of the American People, it is the responsibility of the FDA to listen to and respond to our desires with respect to our personal health and safety.  It is unconscionable that the FDA has taken the side of big business against the will of the people.  There is already sufficient evidence that GM foods have negative side effects and should be banned.  The least that should be done is to require mandatory labeling of all products containing any amount of GM ingredients.  To even suggest the restriction on the labeling of foods as non-GM is absolutely incredible.  It is a restriction of 1st Amendment rights that cannot be defended in any way.  It is obvious that the FDA is in the steadfast grip of the huge agribusiness lobby.  

 

I strongly urge the FDA to:

 

* require mandatory pre-market comprehensive environmental review. Unlike conventional pollutants, where a given amount of pollutant causes a limited amount of damage, a small number of mutant genes could have a population explosion and reproduce forever, causing unlimited and irreparable damage.

 

* require mandatory pre-market long-term health testing. GE products could be toxic, cause allergic responses, have lower nutritional value, and compromise immune responses in consumers.

 

* require mandatory labeling of GE products. 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 would be deprived of the critical knowledge needed to hold food producers liable should any of these novel products be hazardous.

*  remove the restrictions on labeling products as non-GM.  How can labeling be bad  when the label represents the truth about a products ingredients?

 

* end your cozy relationship with the industries you should be regulating. People have been allowed to work for a biotech company, then work for the FDA writing the regulatory rules on that company's product, then go back to working for the company.  Ninety-two percent of FDA advisory committee meetings had at least one conflict of interest.

 

Apparently the FDA’s loyalty does not lie with the American People if it is necessary for even one of us to write this kind of letter.  Shame on the FDA, shame on the US Government for allowing this kind of reprehensible activity by one of its agencies to continue and shame on the American People for not doing more to correct this terrible situation!

 

 

Sincerely,

 

 

William A. Durfey

131 Shelley Ave #4

Campbell, CA 95008