Genetically Engineered Foods Archives

Fouling our nest. (Archive in GEF.)

Friends,

The Genie is out of the bottle! The $110,000,000 StarLink judgement is just a slap on the wrist since these companies have made billions, and stand to make a lot more, with this assault on the rest us in the name of quick profit. A thousand to one expense seems to me to be just "the price of doing business".

Comments?

Walt

I thought this was interesting...
Misty
http://www.searching-alternatives.com

US Food Groups Urge Halt To 'Bio-Pharm' Crops
By Randy Fabi

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ten U.S. food industry groups on Thursday
urged the government to halt "bio-pharm" crops until it implemented
stricter regulations to prevent accidental contamination of other
crops.

Concerns about experimental crops grown to produce pharmaceuticals
arose in November after a Texas company was accused by the
government of mishandling in Nebraska corn spliced with a gene to
make a drug to treat diabetes.

Several U.S. consumer advocacy groups have expressed worries about
the potential long-term impacts of all bioengineered crops on the
environment and human health. There has also been widespread concern
in Europe over such crops.

The U.S. food industry has been an outspoken advocate for biotech
corn, soybeans and other crops designed to protect growing plants
from pests and weeds. But the industry has been less enthusiastic
about "bio-pharm" crops.

The Grocery Manufactures of America, the Food Marketing Institute,
the National Restaurant Association and seven other food groups said
they feared unapproved biotech pharmaceutical crops could seep into
the food supply and undermine consumer confidence.

"To minimize the possible risks, a clear system of regulatory
enforcement and liability needs to be in place," said Mary Sophos, a
vice president of the grocery manufacturers group.

"Until then, no permits for new field trials or for
commercialization should be issued by because there is no room for
trial and error," she added.

The food industry groups outlined their views in documents submitted
to the Food and Drug Administration, which is developing industry
guidelines with the U.S. Agriculture Department on planting medicine
crops.

Companies should be allowed to grow food plants for medical purposes
only when there is no better alternative, the groups said.

The federal government should also require farmers to use separate
land and equipment when handling experimental crops. Tests must be
readily available to detect any contamination of traditional food
crops, the food industry said.

The USDA in December ordered ProdiGene Inc., a small biotech firm,
to spend an estimated $2.8 million to buy and destroy some 500,000
bushels of soybeans accidentally contaminated with a small amount of
an experimental corn plant engineered to produce trypsin for
diabetes.

In a Reuters straw poll of 340 growers last month, nearly half of
U.S. farmers said they were undecided or opposed to growing
pharmaceutical crops.


http://www.connectotel.com/gmfood/re070203.txt

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