Fairfield, IA -- October 13, 2007 - Senator John Edwards, Governor Bill Richardson, and Senator Chris Dodd have all gone on record in favor of mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods this week in Iowa. In response to questions during their campaign visits to Fairfield this week, each candidate stated he would support legislation to require the mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods if elected to be President of the United States.
The three democratic candidates join many leaders in Iowa and the country who are calling for mandatory labeling legislation for genetically engineered foods. Presidential candidate Representative Dennis Kucinich also supports labeling of genetically engineered foods and has lead this effort in Congress for several years.
A report funded by the USDA and conducted by Rutgers University found that 89% of the American public feels the Federal Government should require the labeling of genetically engineered foods. Only 10% felt that labeling should not be required.
All the known effects of genetically engineered foods have been documented in the book: Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods, by Jeffrey Smith. With input from more than 30 scientists over two years, it presents 65 health risks of GE foods and why current safety assessments are not competent to protect us from most of them. The book documents lab animals with damage to virtually every system and organ studied; thousands of sick, sterile, or dead livestock; and people around the world who have traced toxic or allergic reactions to eating GE products, breathing GE pollen, or touching GE crops at harvest. It also exposes many incorrect assumptions that were used to support GE approvals. Organizations worldwide are presenting the book to policy makers as evidence that GE foods are unsafe and need to be removed immediately.
Moreover, health watchdogs feel the FDA has been concealing important information about the hazards of GE foods. According to public interest attorney Steven M. Druker, Executive Director of The Alliance for Bio-Integrity, who initiated a lawsuit that forced the FDA to divulge its internal files on these novel products: "The FDA's own documents reveal that its scientific experts warned the administrators that GE foods pose abnormal health risks and must be carefully tested for unintended side effects. However, the administrators, who admit they have been following an ongoing White House policy to promote the biotech industry, covered up these warnings and claimed that they were unaware of any meaningful differences between GE foods and those produced naturally. It is only through this fraud that GE foods have entered the market, and they have yet to be confirmed safe through the kinds of testing that the FDA experts said is necessary." (Key FDA documents are posted at www.biointegrity.org )
The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods www.thecampaign.org is a 501(c)4 non-profit advocacy organization started in March 1999. The Campaign is leading a national grassroots consumer campaign for the purpose of lobbying Congress and the President to pass legislation that will require the labeling of genetically engineered foods in the United States. Genetically engineered foods are required to be labeled in all the European Union countries, plus Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand and many other leading industrial nations.
