Guess Genes- No Label Required Posted
by Tim at 01/16/09 05:14 PM
FDA will not require labeling of meat or fish from genetically engineered animals
In this day of modern technology we can read a simple label and tell where all our clothes are made. From my hat to my socks… However, I don’t eat my socks.
The Bush administration had a couple of last minute food nuggets up their sleeves. Today the FDA, under Bush for just two more days, announced Final Guidance on Regulation of Genetically Engineered Animals. What we are talking about here are things like are pigs engineered with mouse genes to help them digest phosphorous better. We have also been told about goats engineered with human genes.
The FDA Guidance states that FDA will require such animals to go through a mandatory food safety approval process, a decision Consumers Union supports. However FDA will not require any labeling. FDA says that pork chops from pigs with mouse genes are not any different from the regular kind, so no need to tell consumers.
A recent Consumers Union poll found that 95 percent of consumers feel differently--they favor labeling of meat and milk from genetically engineered animals. Let the Obama administration know that they should reverse this ill-considered guidance and require labeling of genetically engineered meat and milk products as soon as possible after it takes office next week.
Consumers and society in general have additional concerns beyond safety, and we think it is essential that products be labeled, so consumers can act on their individual tastes, ethics and values.
comments
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Posted by Buffy Garber at 01/19/09 07:13 AM
Thanks, Tim -- I'll be sharing this with friends.
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Posted by Janie Masi at 01/27/09 11:50 AM
There are so many problems with genetically engineered animals and vegetables. Where to begin?
When this became a reality under George Bush's administration,(not George W.- his father) resided over by his Vice President, there was a clear decision not to allow anyone to know anything about the details. Patents were bandied about. Shrimp genes in tomatoes, human genes in other vegetables. So you want to eat humans? Remember, genes are actual biological realities. They give you the make up of who you are.. eye color/hair color. I will skip the canabalism.
Secondly, how do people with religiously or ethically based diets protect their food sources? Is a tomato kosher if it has shrimp genes in it? Is it halal for the Islamic community? (You know the halal designation only exists for meat. Until now, I guess) How about the pork genes in vegetables? No one will tell you which is which. So, where is the outcry by the clerics? If you don't have to pay attention to the shrimp and pork genes (an human genes- are humans kosher and halal?), why not just chow down on any animal flesh? Where is the distinction? If part of a tomato or a goat is human, the religious community has to answer some tough questions.
How about that separation of church and state? Isn't the government making choices for people's religious practices by withholding this information? Has not the government decided that these religious or ethical tenets are unimportant?
Personally, I already was a vegan. Made me into a vegan who eats only organic food. I want to know what I am eating. I think it is my right as an American.
P.S. The interesting part was that as soon as we went organic, both my husband and I lost 25 pounds each, without any other change in our diets. Makes you wonder about the multi-billion dollar diet industry and the FDA and USDA...hmmm
P.P.S. The first patent for a genetically engineering organism was a bacteria. You see no normal cell will allow the invasion of a foreign gene unless you destroy it with this bacteria.
The scientist will tell you that this is just the centuries old process of grafting fruits and vegetables together speeded up a bit. I think not.
