From: Sue [spotter@yournet.com]
Sent: Saturday, March 24, 2001 10:20 AM
To: fdadockets@oc.fda.gov
Subject: Protect the People! Label everything in our foods!

To whom it may concern;

We, the people, would like to know what is in the foods we eat.  
I received the following post on what you intend to do, and am 
outraged!  Please get a conscience and protect us.

Sue Potter

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NEWS FLASH!


TELL THE FDA THAT GENETICALLY ENGINEERED PRODUCTS 
MUST BE LABELED AND TESTED FOR SAFETY!

The Food and Drug Administration is now accepting public 
comment on its proposed new rules on genetically engineered 
(GE) foods.  Despite overwhelming consumer demand, the 
FDA has failed to require health and ecological safety testing 
or mandatory labeling, and thus puts your health and our 
environment at risk and deprives you of the right to know 
or choose what you are eating.

The proposed rules:

* Do not require mandatory pre-market safety testing
* Do not require pre-market environmental review
* Do not require mandatory labeling of GE foods
* Restrict voluntary labeling of non-GE foods
* Require a mere letter of notification prior to the 
   marketing of a GE food
* Fail to ensure public access to adequate information 
   for independent review
* Are supported by industry and opposed by consumer groups

The FDA needs to hear from hundreds of thousands of Americans 
that:

* The FDA must 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.

* The FDA must 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.

* The FDA must 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.

* The FDA must end its cozy relationship with the industries
  it purports to 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.

PLEASE ACT TODAY. THE DEADLINE FOR COMMENTS IS 
TUESDAY, APRIL 3.

Email your comments to: fdadockets@oc.fda.gov
with "Docket 00N-1396 & Docket 00D-1598" in the Subject line

Mail your comments to:
   Docket 00N-1396 & Docket 00D-1598
   Dockets Management Branch (HFA-305)
   Food and Drug Administration
   5630 Fishers Lane, Room 1061
   Rockville, MD 20852

For more information: 
http://www.organicconsumers.org , 218-226-4164



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