FDA’s new regulations won’t allow non-GMO, GMO-free label US Food and Drug Administration announced new regulations requiring biotechnology companies to consult with the FDA at least 120 days before marketing new GM foods. Previously, such consultations were voluntary. Biotech companies must provide health safety data about the new GM foods to the FDA, and the agency said it would make this information available on the Internet.
While biotechnology and food industry representatives praised the new regulations, consumer and environmental groups criticized them, saying they didn’t go far enough, particularly in terms of labeling GM foods. The FDA rejected consumer demands for labeling.
Notable for companies wanting to advertise products as non-genetically modified is the fact that the FDA says it will not allow labels like “GM-free,” “GMO-Free” or “biotech-free.” The agency says guaranteeing a product to be free of GM material is virtually impossible. Instead the labels will have to say the food was not produced through bioengineering. The FDA said it may take legal action against companies that violate these guidelines.
Recently, a U.S.-European biotechnology committee had recommended that the U.S. strengthen regulations on GM foods, including labeling. The Consumers Federation of America had also issued a report criticizing the current U.S. regulations. Editorials calling for labeling GM foods have appeared in major U.S. newspapers, including The Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Christian Science Monitor, and Des Moines Register in the past year.
re: where’s Obama on this? I don’t know his personal opinion, but here’s what he did:
Appointed Michael Taylor (former vice president for Monsanto) as head of food safety at the Food and Drug Administration.
Note: my guess is, as to the last, the appointment is part of the game being played to keep Obama in power. Corporations have a hell of a wallop these days: more than any citizen or group of citizens.
But if you get to that destination because that’s your goal, or because you compromise to keep yourself in power: what’s the dif?
When you have Monsanto suing because their seed float into another farmer’s field so SOME of his/her crops may be GM, how do you keep it uncontaminated?
Of what use is the FDA these days? Bush gutted inspections. Where’s Obama on this?
FDA’s new regulations won’t allow non-GMO, GMO-free label
US Food and Drug Administration announced new regulations requiring biotechnology companies to consult with the FDA at least 120 days before marketing new GM foods. Previously, such consultations were voluntary. Biotech companies must provide health safety data about the new GM foods to the FDA, and the agency said it would make this information available on the Internet.
While biotechnology and food industry representatives praised the new regulations, consumer and environmental groups criticized them, saying they didn’t go far enough, particularly in terms of labeling GM foods. The FDA rejected consumer demands for labeling.
Notable for companies wanting to advertise products as non-genetically modified is the fact that the FDA says it will not allow labels like “GM-free,” “GMO-Free” or “biotech-free.” The agency says guaranteeing a product to be free of GM material is virtually impossible. Instead the labels will have to say the food was not produced through bioengineering. The FDA said it may take legal action against companies that violate these guidelines.
Recently, a U.S.-European biotechnology committee had recommended that the U.S. strengthen regulations on GM foods, including labeling. The Consumers Federation of America had also issued a report criticizing the current U.S. regulations. Editorials calling for labeling GM foods have appeared in major U.S. newspapers, including The Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Christian Science Monitor, and Des Moines Register in the past year.
re: where’s Obama on this? I don’t know his personal opinion, but here’s what he did:
Appointed Michael Taylor (former vice president for Monsanto) as head of food safety at the Food and Drug Administration.
Note: my guess is, as to the last, the appointment is part of the game being played to keep Obama in power. Corporations have a hell of a wallop these days: more than any citizen or group of citizens.
But if you get to that destination because that’s your goal, or because you compromise to keep yourself in power: what’s the dif?
When you have Monsanto suing because their seed float into another farmer’s field so SOME of his/her crops may be GM, how do you keep it uncontaminated?