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Subject: Market Farming

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  • From: "Jill Taylor Bussiere" <jdt AT itol.com>
  • To: "market farming" <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Letter to the Editor
  • Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 07:12:33 -0600

To the Editor:

    The food on the shelves in your grocery store are full of genetically
engineered ingredients.  These foods are not labeled as containing GE
ingredients, nor have the GE ingredients been tested for consumption safety.
    The Food and Drug Administration has recently announced new rules and
guidance on genetically engineered (GE) foods.  Unfortunately, despite
overwhelming consumer demand, the agency has still failed to require safety
testing and mandatory labeling for GE foods.  Since labeling for GE foods is
now voluntary, no GE food producer has labeled his/her GE products.
      For now, the principle of "Substantial Equivalence", a concept created
by lawyers working for the Biotech industry in order to facilitate rapid
approval of GE foods, has been accepted for assuring us that GE foods are
safe for us to eat.  Here is what Dr. Pusztai, one of the few scientists
that have been involved in testing GE foods for safety in consumption says
about it:
    "The idea of "substantial equivalence" is that there is no need
for biological safety tests because the plants must be of similar
composition as the parent line. This is the basis on which GM crops are
being released. However, they cannot be substantially equivalent to the
parent because you've introduced new genes. That's why I don't give
tuppence for substantial equivalence.
        We had two transgenic lines of potato produced from the same gene
insertion and the same growing conditions; we grew them together along with the
parent plant. With our two lines of potato, which should have been
substantially equivalent to each other, we found that one of the lines
contained 20% less protein than the other. So the two lines were not
substantially equivalent to each other. But we also found that these two
lines were not substantially equivalent to their parent. This could not be
predicted. It demonstrates that the unpredictability is inherent in the GM
process on a case by case basis - and also at the level of every single GM
plant created...............
     In genetic engineering, a lot of GM plants never see the daylight,
because for one reason or another they don't grow or they have an unpleasant colour
like the GM salmon which turned green. Where unpredictable effects show up,
you throw them out. But from the point of view of science, these are
important. Because if GM is such a predictable, precise science, then you
should be able to produce the same thing again and again. But you can't,"
said Dr.  Pusztai.  http://www.freenetpages.co.uk/hp/A.Pusztai/index.htm

    The good news is that the FDA, as required by law, has a comment period,
which lasts until April 3rd, to hear from the public.  Please write and give
the FDA your opinion about GE foods - whether you think there should be
mandatory labeling, and whether there should be safety testing. Your
comments should be addressed to FDA Commissioner, Docket No.
00N-1396/OOD-1598, FDA Dockets Management Branch (HFA-305), Food and Drug
Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Room 1061, Rockville, MD  20852.  You can
also submit comments directly to the FDA through the website of the Center
for Food Safety - www.foodsafetynow.org

                Jill Taylor Bussiere



  • Letter to the Editor, Jill Taylor Bussiere, 02/27/2001

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