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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] The Non-GMO Project Product Verification Program is Up and Running
  • Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2009 11:54:48 -0700

The Non-GMO Project Product Verification Program is Up and Running

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The Non-GMO Project Product Verification Program is Up and Running
The governments of the US and Canada stand in sharp contrast to sixty other
countries around the world, including the European Union, Russia, and
China, by not requiring foods that contain genetically modified organisms
(GMOs) to be so labeled. They do so despite good evidence that GMOs could
have negative health implications for humans and the environment, and
despite the fact that 87% of American consumers want products that contain
GMO ingredients to be labeled.

The Non-GMO Project is a non-profit originally formed by retailers whose
customers were concerned about foods containing GMO ingredients. There are
estimates that up to 70% of processed foods on store shelves contain
ingredients from genetically engineered crops. According to Jeffrey Smith,
the author of Seeds of Deception, “Many consumers in the US mistakenly
believe that the FDA approves GM foods through rigorous, in-depth,
long-term studies. In reality, the agency has absolutely no safety testing
requirements. Instead the agency relies on research from companies like
Monsanto, research that is meticulously designed to avoid finding problems.
It’s easy to understand the FDA’s industry-friendly policy on
regulation of GMOs when you see the revolving door between agency
regulators and the companies they regulate. The FDA has claimed it was not
aware of any information showing that GM crops were different ‘in any
meaningful or uniform way’ from non-GMO crops and therefore didn’t
require testing. But 44,000 internal FDA documents made public by a lawsuit
show that was a complete lie. The overwhelming consensus among the FDA’s
own scientists was that GM food was quite different and could lead to
unpredictable and hard-to-detect allergens, toxins, new diseases, and
nutritional problems. It turns out that FDA scientists who had urged
superiors to require long-term studies were ignored.”

The Non-GMO Project was founded on the premise that consumers have the
right to choose whether or not they consume GMOs. The adoption of the
Non-GMO Project Standard in March 2008 was a milestone, North America’s
first independent third party standard for production systems designed to
avoid GMOs, available at www.NonGMOProject.org. The project now includes
CEOs and top executives from firms like Whole Foods Market, Lundberg Family
Farms, Eden Foods, Organic Valley, United Natural Foods Inc., and
Nature’s Path Organic Foods. Manufacturers, processors, growers, and seed
companies are invited to enroll their products. Currently, 350 products may
carry the “Non-GMO Project Verified” seal beginning October 2009 once
they are identified as compliant with the standard. The certification
program is process-based and encompasses traceability, segregation, and
testing at critical control points.

The consumption of certified organic food—the only way now known to avoid
GMO-consumption—has become increasingly important for practitioners and
their patients with allergies, asthma, learning and behavior disorders,
chemical sensitivities, cancer, and toxic body burden. In a statement
issued in December 2000, the American Medical Association indicated that
“GM foods have been available for fewer than ten years. Food products
from more than 3000 million acres of GM plant products have been grown
globally over the past six years. Worldwide, many people are eating GM
foods with no overt adverse effects on human health reported in the
peer-reviewed scientific literature and according to regulatory agencies.
Nevertheless, long-term effects are theoretically possible.”

It appears that thanks to the FDA’s less-than-optimal regulation of
genetically modified food, the American public is “the experiment.”
It’s time to completely reform the FDA, a thorough overhaul of every part
of the FDA. The purpose www.ReformFDA.org is to persuade the American
public and Congress that a total reform of the FDA is absolutely necessary.
Visit www.ReformFDA.org to sign the petition and learn more.






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