FEED - March 2007
Contents
- What you can do: Oppose rice engineered with human genes
- Victory in engineered alfalfa case!
- Bills would require cloned food to be labeled
- Resistance to cloned food grows
- Federal legislation to preserve antibiotics introduced
1. What you can do: Oppose rice engineered with human genes
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is poised to approve the planting of up to 3,200 acres in Kansas with rice that is genetically engineered to contain human genes for lysozyme, lactoferrin, and serum albumin. Producing pharmaceutical products in food crops poses risks to our food supply and the economic well-being of farmers. Tell the USDA to ban the outdoor production of this rice and other pharmaceutical-producing food crops.
2. Victory in engineered alfalfa case!
For the third time in recent months, a federal judge has ruled that the USDA failed to uphold the law and protect the environment from the adverse effects of genetically engineered crops. The most recent ruling - on alfalfa engineered to resist the herbicide glyphosate - was a precedent-setting decision. The judge ruled that the USDA must consider the economic impact of crop contamination by the engineered crop, as well as the cumulative risks of the development of herbicide resistance by weeds, in its approval process for engineered crops. The judge stated that the USDA should never have ignored the requirement under the National Environmental Policy Act for an environmental impact statement when there is reasonable evidence for substantial risks, and called the USDA's decision to ignore the potential environmental risks of the alfalfa "cavalier." The decision could block sales and planting of the alfalfa this season and impede future approvals of engineered crops. The reprimand to the USDA comes hard on the heels of rulings on engineered bentgrass and pharmaceutical-producing crops. Read more from the Center for Food Safety.
3. Bills would require cloned food to be labeled
Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) has introduced the Cloned Food Labeling Act (S. 414), a bill requiring food from cloned animals or their offspring to be labeled as such. In a rousing speech on the Senate floor, Mikulski cited widespread consumer opposition to eating cloned food products and the need to track cloned food in case a recall is needed. Meanwhile, California State Senator Carole Migden (D-3rd district) has introduced a similar bill to the California legislature. The bills are a response to the Food and Drug Administration's recent announcement that it intends to allow products from cloned animals and their progeny to be sold as food. Read the text of S. 414 (pdf).
4. Resistance to cloned food grows
The newly introduced bills requiring cloned food to be labeled reflect the growing consumer and corporate opposition to cloned food products that has been mounting around the country. Grocery retailers Whole Foods Market and Wild Oats have announced that they will not carry products from clones or their offspring. The nation's top dairy company, Dean Foods, also will not sell milk from cloned cows. Ben & Jerry's staged an event on Capitol Hill at which protesters dressed as cows handed out educational information to express the company's opposition to cloning. In polls, consumer opposition to cloning remains high. Read more from the Associated Press and United Press International.
5. Federal legislation to preserve antibiotics introduced
A bipartisan bill that would ban the nontherapeutic use of seven classes of medically important antibiotics in food animals has been reintroduced in Congress. The Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act of 2007 (S. 549, H.R. 962) addresses the growing public health crisis of antibiotic resistance, partially attributable to routine use of antibiotics in agriculture. More than 350 public health and consumer organizations, including the American Medical Association, endorsed this legislation during the last Congress. Read more.
