>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2006 00:03:52 EDT >Subject: Eat To Live: FDA sued over biotech foods (great French >article on CFS action) > >Eat To Live: FDA sued over biotech foods >By Julia Watson >United Press International, June 9, 2006 >http://www.upi.com/ > >LE BUGUE, France (UPI) -- It`s been a conversational curiosity, at >the very least, among consumers in Europe, Australia, Japan, and >parts of Africa, why Americans don`t seem the slightest bit >interested in the issue of the genetic engineering of some of their >key crops. The nations just mentioned have as little tolerance for >biotech foods as legally possible. > >Now, however, American consumers may have to reflect upon their complacency. > >This week, the Center for Food Safety filed a lawsuit against the >Food and Drug Administration to force the government to establish >mandatory reviews of genetically engineered foods and to label them >as genetically modified if the foods are approved for consumption. > >The dramatic action comes after six years of waiting without a >response from the FDA to a legal petition it lodged, along with over >50 consumer and environmental groups, demanding that biotech food be >more meticulously regulated and labeled. > >Why would the FDA -- so anxious to protect our health with >advisories on food fears from mercury in fish to the pasteurization >of young raw milk cheeses -- not want to take a rigorous look on our >behalf at industrial science's inalterable tampering with nature? > >Even the U.S. Department of Agriculture Inspector General has been >appalled by the USDA's handling of field tests of genetically >engineered plantings. > >As Eat To Live revealed earlier this year, the inspector general's >report condemned the USDA for failing to inspect experimental >genetically engineered crops and for not insuring they were >destroyed after field tests, to protect surrounding farmland. > >The prime genetically modified crops grown extensively across the >U.S. are corn, soybeans and canola. Europe, pushed by massive >consumer unease, has made every effort to resist the entry of >genetically engineered crops into its markets. Foods that contain >them must be so labeled. > >Yet Europe has been under intense pressure by the United States >through the World Trade Organization to reverse this stand and allow >U.S. biotech crops and products in. > >Even the United Nations Cartagena Protocol of Biosafety authorizes >member countries, in the case of scientific uncertainty, to take a >precautionary approach to regulating biotech crops. > >In the United States, no GM labeling is necessary, nor is testing of >foods containing biotech crops or by-products compulsory. > >European consumers -- and many in the science community -- fear that >the restructuring of the genetic composition of a crop by >introducing foreign genes -- from other species of plant or even >animals -- could have an impact on health. They fear so-called >'Frankenfoods' might encourage antibiotic-resistant illnesses, >produce new food toxins and generate food allergies. > >Farmers are attracted by the higher yields and lower investment in >pesticides and time that genetically engineered crops offer. Their >creators, like Monsanto, promote the philanthropic message that they >could be the instrument for the reduction of world hunger and >poverty. They assert that rather than abuse the environment, >genetically modified crops make it safer. > >Critics of biotech crops and food say that none of these contentions >have been properly tested nor have ecological, health and social >questions been stringently addressed. > >Let's hope there`s enough publicity for the CFS's lawsuit to alert >American consumers finally to an issue that has been the concern of >much of the rest of the world. > >This barbecuing season, when timing everything to be on the table as >soon as the burgers come off the grill is tricky, you may like this >tip from legendary New York Times food writer Craig Claiborne. > >He contended that the best way to cook (genetically unmodified) >sweet corn was to bring to the boil a pot of unsalted water, drop in >the shucked corn, slam the lid on, bring it back to the boil then >immediately turn off the heat under the pot. Leave the corn in for a >minimum of 5 minutes -- and a relaxed maximum of 45. It`s a method >that saves corn that isn`t at peak of freshness. Salting the water >toughens it. > >E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Copyright 2006 by United Press International
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