From: Chris Attwood [chris.attwood@humanfactors.com]
Sent: Saturday, March 24, 2001 10:28 AM
To: fdadockets@oc.fda.gov
Subject: fdadockets@oc.fda.gov

I am deeply concerned by the proposed rules for genetically engineered (GE)
foods.  PLEASE ensure the safety of foods that have been artificially
altered, may have significant health hazards, and whose long-term effects
are not fully known.  It is simply not good enough to say, "We don't see a
problem."  Nor is it adequate to allow the biotech industry to determine
what is healthy when they have a vested interest in getting these products
to market whether or not they have harmful effects.

In particular, I feel strongly 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.

As citizens, we depend on the FDA to make impartial judgements.  Please
prove worthy of the trust we place in you and ensure that GE foods are dealt
with in a responsible way.

Thank you,

Chris Attwood