Dan Clore
2010-09-19 17:38:52 UTC
News & Views for Anarchists & Activists:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/09/fda-labeled-free-modification/
FDA won’t allow food to be labeled free of genetic modification: report
By Raw Story
Saturday, September 18th, 2010 -- 11:05 pm
FDA tv 5dec07 210%281%29 FDA wont allow food to be labeled free of
genetic modification: report
'Extra labeling only confuses the consumer,' biotech spokesman says
That the Food and Drug Administration is opposed to labeling foods that
are genetically modified is no surprise anymore, but a report in the
Washington Post indicates the FDA won't even allow food producers to
label their foods as being free of genetic modification.
In reporting that the FDA will likely not require the labeling of
genetically modified salmon if it approves the food product for
consumption, the Post's Lyndsey Layton notes that the federal agency
"won't let conventional food makers trumpet the fact that their products
don't contain genetically modified ingredients."
The agency warned the dairy industry in 1994 that it could not use
"Hormone Free" labeling on milk from cows that are not given engineered
hormones, because all milk contains some hormones.
It has sent a flurry of enforcement letters to food makers,
including B&G Foods, which was told it could not use the phrase
"GMO-free" on its Polaner All Fruit strawberry spread label because GMO
refers to genetically modified organisms and strawberries are produce,
not organisms.
It told the maker of Spectrum Canola Oil that it could not use a
label that included a red circle with a line through it and the words
"GMO," saying the symbol suggested that there was something wrong with
genetically engineered food.
"This to me raises questions about whose interest the FDA is
protecting," House Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) told the Post. Kucinich
has repeatedly introduced bills in the House that would require the
labeling of genetically modified foods.
David Edwards, director of animal biotechnology at the Biotechnology
Industry Organization, told the Post that "extra labeling only confuses
the consumer. ... It differentiates products that are not different. As
we stick more labels on products that don't really tell us anything
more, it makes it harder for consumers to make their choices."
The Post notes that the debate over genetically modified salmon, which
will be decided at an FDA advisory panel meeting this week, "comes at a
time when Americans seem to want to know more about their food - where
it is grown, how it is produced and what it contains."
"The public wants to know and the public has a right to know," New York
University nutrition professor Marion Nestle told the Post. "I think the
agency has discretion, but it's under enormous political pressure to
approve [the salmon] without labeling."
--
Dan Clore
New book: _Weird Words: A Lovecraftian Lexicon_:
http://tinyurl.com/yd3bxkw
My collected fiction: _The Unspeakable and Others_
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0035LTS0O
Lord Weÿrdgliffe & Necronomicon Page:
http://tinyurl.com/292yz9
News & Views for Anarchists & Activists:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
"Don't just question authority,
Don't forget to question me."
-- Jello Biafra
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/09/fda-labeled-free-modification/
FDA won’t allow food to be labeled free of genetic modification: report
By Raw Story
Saturday, September 18th, 2010 -- 11:05 pm
FDA tv 5dec07 210%281%29 FDA wont allow food to be labeled free of
genetic modification: report
'Extra labeling only confuses the consumer,' biotech spokesman says
That the Food and Drug Administration is opposed to labeling foods that
are genetically modified is no surprise anymore, but a report in the
Washington Post indicates the FDA won't even allow food producers to
label their foods as being free of genetic modification.
In reporting that the FDA will likely not require the labeling of
genetically modified salmon if it approves the food product for
consumption, the Post's Lyndsey Layton notes that the federal agency
"won't let conventional food makers trumpet the fact that their products
don't contain genetically modified ingredients."
The agency warned the dairy industry in 1994 that it could not use
"Hormone Free" labeling on milk from cows that are not given engineered
hormones, because all milk contains some hormones.
It has sent a flurry of enforcement letters to food makers,
including B&G Foods, which was told it could not use the phrase
"GMO-free" on its Polaner All Fruit strawberry spread label because GMO
refers to genetically modified organisms and strawberries are produce,
not organisms.
It told the maker of Spectrum Canola Oil that it could not use a
label that included a red circle with a line through it and the words
"GMO," saying the symbol suggested that there was something wrong with
genetically engineered food.
"This to me raises questions about whose interest the FDA is
protecting," House Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) told the Post. Kucinich
has repeatedly introduced bills in the House that would require the
labeling of genetically modified foods.
David Edwards, director of animal biotechnology at the Biotechnology
Industry Organization, told the Post that "extra labeling only confuses
the consumer. ... It differentiates products that are not different. As
we stick more labels on products that don't really tell us anything
more, it makes it harder for consumers to make their choices."
The Post notes that the debate over genetically modified salmon, which
will be decided at an FDA advisory panel meeting this week, "comes at a
time when Americans seem to want to know more about their food - where
it is grown, how it is produced and what it contains."
"The public wants to know and the public has a right to know," New York
University nutrition professor Marion Nestle told the Post. "I think the
agency has discretion, but it's under enormous political pressure to
approve [the salmon] without labeling."
--
Dan Clore
New book: _Weird Words: A Lovecraftian Lexicon_:
http://tinyurl.com/yd3bxkw
My collected fiction: _The Unspeakable and Others_
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0035LTS0O
Lord Weÿrdgliffe & Necronomicon Page:
http://tinyurl.com/292yz9
News & Views for Anarchists & Activists:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
"Don't just question authority,
Don't forget to question me."
-- Jello Biafra