From: John Stevenson [brainusr@gdi.net]
Sent: Friday, March 23, 2001 10:37 PM
To: fdadockets@oc.fda.gov
Subject: Docket 00N-1396 and Docket 00D-1598

To Whom it may concern in the FDA:
 
Please accept the following comments on the proposed new rules on genetically engineered 
(GE) foods RE: Docket 00N-1396 and Docket 00D-1598:
 
GENETICALLY ENGINEERED PRODUCTS MUST BE LABELED AND TESTED FOR SAFETY PRIOR TO DISTRIBUTION TO CONSUMERS!

As a consumer it is VERY important to me that I have the right to choose to consume or not consume GE foods!
 
It has come to my attention that the above referenced proposed new rules fail to require health and ecological safety testing.  That being the case we will be placing our health and our environment at risk.  Furthermore the proposed new rules DEPRIVE THE CONSUMER OF THE RIGHT TO KNOW OR CHOOSE whether or not we wish to eat GE foods!  It is unconscionable on the part of the FDA to propose such rules.
 
As the representative body for the American eating public the rules proposed by the FDA must:
 
* REQUIRE A MANDATORY PRE-MARKET COMPREHENSIVE ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW.  
Unlike conventional pollutants, where a given amount of pollutant causes a limited amount of damage, a small number of mutant genes could have a population explosion and reproduce forever, causing unlimited and irreparable damage
 
* REQUIRE MANDATORY PRE-MARKET LONG-TERM HEALTH TESTING.
GE products could be toxic, could cause allergic responses, could conceivably have lower nutritional value, and could compromise immune responses in the people who consume them.

* REQUIRE MANDATORY LABELING OF GE PRODUCTS
Without the mandatory labeling, neither consumers nor health professionals will know if an allergic or toxin reaction was the result of a genetically engineered food.  Consumers would be deprived of the critical knowledge needed to make intelligent choices and in the event the product is hazardous, hold the food producer liable.
 
John Stevenson
mailto:brainusr@gdi.net

"All the great empires of the future will be empires of the mind."
Winston Churchill, 1953