From: Center for Food Safety [action@foodsafetynow.org]
Sent: Monday, March 26, 2001 3:12 PM
To: FDA Commissioner
Cc: president@whitehouse.gov; vice.president@whitehouse.gov;
fdadockets@oc.fda.gov; fdadockets@oc.fda.gov
Subject: Oppose the New FDA Regulations on GE Foods!

FDA Commissioner 
Dockets Management Branch (HFA 305)
Food and Drug Administration
5630 Fisher's Lane, rm. 1061
Rockville, MD 20852

RE: Docket No. 00N-1396, and 00D-1598

Dear Ms. Henney,
 
I writing this letter out of concern for your new policies on genetically 
 engineered (GE)foods. Many, many people have expressed a desire to be 
informed when food is genetically, but the FDA still fails to require 
safety testing and mandatory labeling for GE foods. What's going on here?  
Your “notification” policy is completely inadequate for consumers, and 
irresponsibly ignores strong scientific evidence of numerous potential 
health and environmental risks to GE foods. You should be aware that these 
foods could be toxic, could cause allergic responses, could have lower 
nutrition value, could compromise immune responses in consumers, and could 
cause irreparable damage to the environment. 

While the “voluntary labeling” policy appears to make strides toward 
solving the problem, it too is vastly inadequate.  Essentially it puts the 
onus on the producer to take on the extra costs of notification, if a 
producer decides against this, we will have allowed them to deny consumers 
a basic right to know. Consumers will be deprived of the critical 
knowledge they need to hold food producers liable should any of these 
novel foods prove hazardous.

The rules which are currently in consideration ignore serious concerns, 
and truly appear to be a decision made to convenience industry at the 
expense of public health and the environment. I do not accept your passive 
acceptance of these untested foods, and I trust you will take my concern 
along with the millions of others into serious consideration.


Sincerely,

Nolan Lienhart, Student, Colgate University

Nolan Lienhart
13 Oak Drive Box Q4523
Hamilton, NY, 13346

CC: 
The President
Vice President Dick Cheney
FDA Dockets Management [Docket No. 00N-1396]
Senator Charles Schumer
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
Representative Sherwood L. BoehlertFDA Dockets Management [Docket No. 
00D-1598]


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