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U.S. opposes labeling genetically engineered food By Deena Beasley, Reuters Tuesday, June 11, 2002 TORONTO - The U.S. White House is against adopting regulations, already in use in some countries, that would require companies to label foods that use genetically engineered ingredients, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said Monday. Thompson said labeling foods as genetically altered "puts fear in the market" and would serve only to stymie innovation in the rapidly advancing biotechnology food industry. "I don't think it solves the problem. Mandatory labeling doesn't work," he said at the annual meeting of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, the trade group representing the fields of health care, agricultural, industrial, and environmental biotechnology. Last year the group's conference, held in San Diego, was targeted by marchers opposed to so-called "Frankenfoods," but their ranks fell short of forecasts. Here in Toronto, the scene is even more subdued; protesters staged a brief rally on Sunday, and there are no concrete barriers, although the police presence is still noticeable. Some countries already require labels to state whether food contains, for instance, corn whose genes have been altered to enable the organism to resist the corn borer pest. But the United States does not. "We are concerned about food safety. None of these crops have been tested for safety," said Charles Margulis, genetic engineering specialist at the environmental group Greenpeace. The European Union, unnerved by food safety scares such as mad cow disease, has banned new biotech crops from other parts of the world for the past three years. The United States is by far the largest producer of genetically altered corn- and soy-based food. No one really knows what happens when plants that have not evolved in nature are consumed by humans, Margulis said. "There could be allergies, increased toxins, or other unexpected side effects," he said. In the United States, weed- and pest-resistant versions of six crops - soybeans, corn, cotton, papaya, squash, and canola - are now being grown, and many other transgenic plants are being developed. Last month, a report by the U.S. General Accounting Office said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had adequately tested the safety of new biotech foods before allowing them to be sold, and consumers who ate bioengineered foods were not at a higher risk of allergies or toxic reactions. A biotech corn variety not approved for human consumption slipped into the food supply in late 2000, sparking a nationwide recall of more than 300 kinds of corn-based foods. StarLink was approved only for animal feed due to concern that it might cause allergic reactions in humans. Several U.S. class action suits are pending against Aventis CropScience, which made StarLink. A National Academy of Sciences panel in February said the government had allowed food manufacturers to market biotech crops without fully probing their potential environmental impact. Copyright 2002 - Reuters Any reprinting, rebroadcast or digital transmission of this work without written permission from Environmental News Network, Inc. is strictly prohibited.
