The Food and Drug Administration last week announced it will not require food manufacturers to label products which contain genetically-engineered ingredients. Spokespeople for the FDA said this step is being taken in response to consumer concerns regarding the safety of genetically-altered foods.
The powers that be at the FDA must have wax in their ears, because consumers’ number one concern about genetically-engineered food is that it is not labeled. How many millions of taxpayer dollars did the FDA spend deciding to do the exact opposite of what citizens were asking it to do?
Here’s what this means to you: let’s say you go to the grocery store and buy a can of corn and a bag of frozen French fries. The corn and potatoes in your shopping cart may be genetically altered to include the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt. Because those crops were joined with Bt, the farmer didn’t need to use as much external insecticide, but on the other hand, the toxic Bt bacterium, which is itself an insecticide, is in the corn and potatoes you’re serving for supper tonight. I mention corn and potatoes, because both crops are genetically modified, but it’s also worth noting that corn and potatoes are among the few vegetables you can get your kids to eat. Maybe you don’t want the corn and French fries your kids eat to contain insecticide. Thanks to the FDA, you have no way of knowing.
How about tofu? That’s healthy. Of course, the soybeans from which that tofu is made may have been genetically-engineered to withstand high doses of the herbicide glyphosate. If, by chance, your tofu is made from genetically-engineered soybeans, the herbicide residue in those beans will be 100 times higher than tofu made from conventional soybeans. What’s the point of eating tofu, if it means getting a mouthful of pesticides? Problem is, you can’t know, because the FDA won’t require the processor to tell you. You want the truth? The FDA doesn’t think you can handle the truth.
There are alternatives. You can eat tofu made from organic soybeans and have zero pesticide residue or you can find tofu made from beans that are not organic, but are not genetically-engineered, either. Same goes for the corn and potatoes. Of course, you’ll have to pay a higher price for food that is guaranteed to be free of genetic manipulation, because the farmer and the processor will have to go to great lengths to ensure their food is not contaminated. They didn’t invent this problem, they don’t want to do anything differently than they’ve ever done, but because of our federal regulators, it’s the farmers who don’t want to grow genetically-altered crops that face higher handling costs, which they will have to pass on to me and you. Thanks, FDA.
Manufacturers who want to sell uncontaminated food can label it as being free of genetic engineering. This is what happened with Bovine Growth Hormone in milk, the first genetically-altered product to hit the market. Dairies could label their milk and butter and ice cream as BGH-free, but the FDA required the label to say there is not difference between BGH-tainted and BGH-free milk.
Of course, there is a difference. Milk treated with BGH is not fit to drink and genetically-engineered food is not fit to eat and the Food and Drug Administration – the agency, by the way, that sets a standard of no more than 13 rat hairs per pound of peanut butter – is not interested in protecting your health. It is interested in protecting the wealth of the corporations that make the big donations to politicians.
Speaking of rat hair – doesn’t it strike you as odd that all this debate – about food, something all of us eat, three times a day – is taking place in a presidential election year and neither Al nor W. is talking about it? That’s because they’re both on the same side of the issue – and believe me – it ain’t your side.
You Want the Truth?
The Food and Drug Administration last week announced it will not require food manufacturers to label products which contain genetically-engineered ingredients. Spokespeople for the FDA said this step is being taken in response to consumer concerns regarding the safety of genetically-altered foods.
The powers that be at the FDA must have wax in their ears, because consumers’ number one concern about genetically-engineered food is that it is not labeled. How many millions of taxpayer dollars did the FDA spend deciding to do the exact opposite of what citizens were asking it to do?
Here’s what this means to you: let’s say you go to the grocery store and buy a can of corn and a bag of frozen French fries. The corn and potatoes in your shopping cart may be genetically altered to include the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt. Because those crops were joined with Bt, the farmer didn’t need to use as much external insecticide, but on the other hand, the toxic Bt bacterium, which is itself an insecticide, is in the corn and potatoes you’re serving for supper tonight. I mention corn and potatoes, because both crops are genetically modified, but it’s also worth noting that corn and potatoes are among the few vegetables you can get your kids to eat. Maybe you don’t want the corn and French fries your kids eat to contain insecticide. Thanks to the FDA, you have no way of knowing.
How about tofu? That’s healthy. Of course, the soybeans from which that tofu is made may have been genetically-engineered to withstand high doses of the herbicide glyphosate. If, by chance, your tofu is made from genetically-engineered soybeans, the herbicide residue in those beans will be 100 times higher than tofu made from conventional soybeans. What’s the point of eating tofu, if it means getting a mouthful of pesticides? Problem is, you can’t know, because the FDA won’t require the processor to tell you. You want the truth? The FDA doesn’t think you can handle the truth.
There are alternatives. You can eat tofu made from organic soybeans and have zero pesticide residue or you can find tofu made from beans that are not organic, but are not genetically-engineered, either. Same goes for the corn and potatoes. Of course, you’ll have to pay a higher price for food that is guaranteed to be free of genetic manipulation, because the farmer and the processor will have to go to great lengths to ensure their food is not contaminated. They didn’t invent this problem, they don’t want to do anything differently than they’ve ever done, but because of our federal regulators, it’s the farmers who don’t want to grow genetically-altered crops that face higher handling costs, which they will have to pass on to me and you. Thanks, FDA.
Manufacturers who want to sell uncontaminated food can label it as being free of genetic engineering. This is what happened with Bovine Growth Hormone in milk, the first genetically-altered product to hit the market. Dairies could label their milk and butter and ice cream as BGH-free, but the FDA required the label to say there is not difference between BGH-tainted and BGH-free milk.
Of course, there is a difference. Milk treated with BGH is not fit to drink and genetically-engineered food is not fit to eat and the Food and Drug Administration – the agency, by the way, that sets a standard of no more than 13 rat hairs per pound of peanut butter – is not interested in protecting your health. It is interested in protecting the wealth of the corporations that make the big donations to politicians.
Speaking of rat hair – doesn’t it strike you as odd that all this debate – about food, something all of us eat, three times a day – is taking place in a presidential election year and neither Al nor W. is talking about it? That’s because they’re both on the same side of the issue – and believe me – it ain’t your side.