Petition to Congress seeks labels on transgenic foods
RTw 17.06.99 18:54
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By Julie Vorman
WASHINGTON, June 17 (Reuters) - Nearly a half-million Americans urged Congress on Thursday
to require labels on foods containing genetically-modified soybeans, corn and other
ingredients, reflecting growing consumer unease around the world about transgenic crops.
A petition drive, coordinated by a little-known political party, is one of the first signs
that U.S. consumer support for bioengineered crops may be wavering.
While activists in the European Union have lashed out for months against what they call
"Frankenstein foods," American shoppers have been relatively complacent about
the swelling numbers of farm fields planted with genetically-modified (GM) corn, soybeans,
tomatoes, potatoes and other crops.
U.S. farmers, agribusiness and the U.S. Agriculture Department have embraced biotechnology
to reduce the amount of pesticides and chemicals used on fields, and to increase the size
and quality of crops. This year, more than 60 million acres of the nation's fields will be
planted with GM seeds.
A petition, signed by nearly 500,000 consumers, was delivered Thursday to House Minority
Whip David Boniors, a Michigan Democrat, by leaders of the Natural Law Party. The small
party, linked to a group of transcendental meditation advocates in Iowa, said the sheer
number of signatures shows that the issue is important to mainstream America."
"We are not calling for a boycott of genetically-engineered foods. We simply want
labels on them so consumers can make a choice about what they buy," said Adam
Dobritsky, a spokesman for the party. "We also want the government to conduct an
investigation into the long-term safety of this food."
The petition comes at a time when more uncertainties are coming to light about transgenic
crops.
Last month, Cornell University researchers found that while the crop "Bt corn"
was safe for humans, its pollen could kill monarch butterfly larvae. Scientists in the
study cautioned their lab tests did not duplicate real-world conditions.
Bt is shorthand for Bacillus thuringiensis, a bacteria found in the soil that is toxic to
the European corn borer. U.S. farmers routinely sprayed corn and cotton crops with Bt to
kill the pest until three years ago, when scientists added the Bt gene to seeds as a
built-in pesticide.
"We're one incident away from having GM foods become a very big issue here in the
United States," said the head of one large consumer advocacy group, speaking on
condition of anonymity. "Unlike foodborne disease, where the government has rules in
place to handle any outbreak, there is no real regulatory review process in place right
now to keep up with all the biotechnology changes that are happening."
Currently, the U.S. Agriculture Department regulates field trials of new crops, the Food
and Drug Administration handles food product labels, and the Environmental Protection
Agency oversees anything related to pesticides.
U.S. food companies, worried about the EU concerns spilling into the American market, will
soon launch a $1 million public education campaign on GM foods.
"We want to deliver all the information that consumers may want, through 800-numbers,
pamphlets, Web sites and other materials," said Lisa Katic of the Grocery
Manufacturers Association. "We want them to know there is no significant difference
between GM crops and conventional crops."
In contrast to growing concerns about transgenic food in the U.S. and widespread worry in
Europe, Brazil last month ended its ban on the commercial planting of genetically modified
crops. On May 17, Brazil approved the sale of Roundup Ready soybean seeds produced by the
local arm of U.S. life sciences giant Monsanto Co.
Per Pinstrup-Anderson, director of the non-profit International Food Policy Research
Institute, said GM food labels may be a good idea in principle but are impossible to carry
out. Oil squeezed from GM soybeans and corn is commonly used in cooking oil, salad
dressings, margarines, chips, snacks and countless other processed foods.
"The government should promote a national debate with facts, not emotions,"
Pinstrup-Anderson said. "There is a good reason to believe that something similar to
the public reaction in Europe will happen in this country over the next couple of
years."
The U.S. government also should launch more research into potential risks created by
inserting genes from known allergens such as peanuts into other crops, and the use of
antibiotic resistant marker genes to test new plants, he said.
"I would not hesitate to feed GM food to my children and grandchildren,"
Pinstrup-Anderson said. "But as long as there are so many concerns about this, more
research must be done."