From: dpus [dpus@ttinational.net]
Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2001 7:51 AM
To: fdadockets@oc.fda.gov
Subject: genetically engineered foods

 Dear FDA Commissioner,
I feel very strongly about the way the Government appears to be supporting 
the efforts of various corporations to re-engineer "natural" foods and conceal 
that information from the consumer.
The proposed Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations fail to
require labels or safety tests on genetically engineered (GE) food. While other 
labeling requirements give important dietary information, these new rules continue 
to deny us the right to know what is in our food and how or even whether it has been 
"re-engineered".  Again, the whole system seems to favor the biotech corporations 
to America's detriment

.  What are you or the corporations afraid of?  It costs no more to add to the 
label the words "contains genetically modified (or engineered) ingredients"!
Labeling GE foods would protect the public from potential hazardous 
health effects such as food allergies and toxicity that can only be traced 
if GE foods can be identified. By refusing to require both labeling and 
mandatory pre-market safety testing of foods, the FDA puts consumer's 
health at risk, ignores possible environmental hazards, and fails to satisfy 
the overwhelming desire of American consumers to exercise freedom 
of choice in the marketplace
It is not enough to require that firms simply notify you of their intent to 
market a food produced with genetic engineering; this is no substitute for 
thorough pre-market safety testing. 
And if testing is not done, all the more reason for the warning label!
The proposed "voluntary labeling" guidelines will do nothing to inform 
consumers of the presence of genetically engineered ingredients in their 
food, because biotech companies and food manufacturers have vehemently 
opposed labeling in the past and will not voluntarily label their foods in the future.   
The only voluntary labeling seems to come from companies who declare that their 
product are NOT genetically modified!

Please reconsider your hasty decision.  Keep GE crops and processed foods
off the market unless or until: 

1) Independent safety testing demonstrates they have no harmful effects 
on human health or the environment; 

2) They are labeled to ensure consumers¹ right-to-know; and 

3) The biotechnology corporations that produce them are held responsible 
for any harms they may cause. Possibly they should be required to post a 
bond to prepare for the law suits that will inevitably follow.
 
Garry Montgomery
903 Oak Grove Lane
Branson, MO 65616