GE Meat headed to your nearest grocery store

[Guest guest]

Speak up! Stop this insanity.http://ga3.org/campaign/GEanimals/iie3d854h7k3jm8n?It Came From The Grocery Store: Genetically Engineered Meat May Be Heading To A Supermarket Near You

Genetically

engineered animals may be heading to your local supermarket faster than

you think. Though creating animals in a lab sounds like science

fiction, it’s happening right now: Genetically engineered super salmon,

which grow twice as fast as normal farmed salmon, goats engineered with

spider genes to produce silk in their milk, and pigs engineered with

mouse and bacterial DNA to improve digestion.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is currently

accepting public comments on its draft guidance for the

commercialization of such GE animals, opening the way for

grocery stores to sell food made from genetically engineered animals.

And the agency is proposing that these products be sold to you without

your knowledge.

The jury is still out on whether food from these animals is safe for

humans or the environment. And the ethics of such changes have yet to

be considered. In fact, FDA says the ethics of engineering animals for

food production cannot even be considered in its decision-making!

FDA says they will conduct a safety review before these foods can be sold for human consumption. But

consumers won’t know if they’re buying food from genetically engineered

animals, because the agency is refusing to require labeling—robbing us of our right to know what’s in our food.

The FDA draft guidance would treat genetically engineered animals

under its new animal drug provisions. While the new guidance would

require a long-overdue review process, the proposed FDA rules are

seriously flawed. While regulating genetically engineered animals

through the more rigorous “new animal drug” provisions is good

news—meaning each new GE animal would have to get FDA approval before

going to market, like new drugs do—the secrecy inherent in our current

drug approval process is bad news for consumers. In addition, FDA’s

limited review will only be for efficiency of the GE process, the

safety of the GE process on the animal, and will not require extensive

testing of the foods derived from such animals. Moreover, the review

will not cover environmental issues like impacts to wildlife or

biodiversity.

Under this draft, the public cannot know if the review of a product

met the highest scientific standards until after its approval, and then

they cannot avoid the product in the marketplace because it is not

labeled. The FDA feels it deserves the public’s trust, but refuses to

give us the tools to verify that it is doing its job fairly and

adequately.

What’s worse, FDA is not proposing actual regulations, but rather a

non-binding “guidance” document that continues the anti-regulatory

shift of risk from those producing genetically engineered animals and

foods to those consuming them.

The public comment period is only open until November 18th – Tell FDA to ban the use of such animals for food.

If any such animals are to be considered, FDA must require labeling of

food products from all genetically engineered animals, an open,

transparent, and participatory review process of any such genetically

engineered animals, and include a meaningful consideration of the

ethical implications and environmental impacts of genetically

engineering animals.

Talking Points

**PLEASE NOTE: All comments submitted to the agency will be made public by the agency

on the regulations.gov website, so please be advised not to share any

information you do not wish to be publicly posted, such as your street

address or phone number. No email addresses will be sent or shared.

Due to the difficulty members have had in submitting comments via

the agency website, we will collect your comments and submit them to

the agency at the close of the comment period on November 18th.

Subject:

Dear [ Decision Maker ],

Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305)Food and Drug Administration5630 Fishers LaneRoom 2061Rockville, MD 20852Cc: www.regulations.govRe: Docket No. FDA-2008-D-0394 and Request for ExtensionI

am writing to comment on Docket No. FDA-2008-D-0394, "Regulation of

Genetically Engineered Animals Containing Heritable rDNA Constructs." I

am deeply concerned that the Food and Drug Administration has issued

Draft Guidance that will allow meat and milk from genetically

engineered animals into the food supply without any way for me to know

whether I'm buying or eating such food. I am opposed to Genetically

Engineered Animals being used as food and strongly urge FDA to ban

these animals from the food supply.(Please click on link to be able to complete this letter and send to the FDA.)