There is an educational talk program on public TV in my area tonight discussing labeling GM food and the debate swirling around it. Oregon has a measure on the November ballot (Measure 27), supposedly the first in the nation. They replayed a report first broadcast on PBS in April, which I was able to find, for those who might be interested in a brief overview. There are links to other articles on this subject.
High Tech Foods @ http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/science/jan-june00/food_4-4.html Also check out www.geneforum.org and the link to the monthly newsletter DNA Dispatch @ http://www.geneforum.org/dnadispatch/ and an article about teaching the new genetics. Apparently, one of the biggest roadblocks to marketing GM products in the US market is the labeling. One of the complications to that brouhaha is that the US Patent office issued patents to Monsanto and the other large producers, adding to the sense of controversy. The original petitioner for this measure quoted national polls showing that 75 - 90% of Americans want labeling (depending on who is polling). Opponents to the measure say that Oregon businesses will suffer but also will have to label GE ingredients in packaging, like the GE poplars grown to make boxes. This measure is being closely watched by the national grocers association, which is lobbying Washington on guidelines. As often happens, both sides are looking at the same data with their minds already made up and interpret ting that data according to their bias, which is happening in the public debate about war with Iraq - people are pushing their conclusions based on bias and it is a matter of who is worn down first. Here is a partial list of US companies supposed to be selling in Europe successfully without GM ingredients: Annhesuer Busch, Coca Cola, Kellogg, Kraft, Mars, Nestle, Phillip Morris. Interesting to learn that the new GM "golden rice" allegedly has DNA from petunias - not a known allergen? Karen Keith, Isn't it interesting that the food that was offered was genetically altered and was not salable in the US? Bill Ward some African politicians have been frightened enough to prevent GM grain being imported by the aid agencies in order to cope with wide-scale starvation among their people -- even though, within the stomach, the variant genes within GM food are broken down and digested as thoroughly as all the others and are of absolutely no danger.
