The comment period on a proposal before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on whether to approve genetically engineered salmon ended at midnight last night after racking up comments from 1.5 million people, according to Food and Water Watch. The GE salmon, called ”AquAdvantage Salmon,” was created by AquaBounty and can reach market size twice as fast as normal salmon, saving time and resources, the company says. It would be the first GE animal approved for human consumption in the U.S. and would not be requied to be labeled as genetically engineered. “Nearly 1.5 million people have commented to FDA from a broad spectrum of the public: consumers, scientists, salmon growers, doctors, students, ministers, chefs and Native American groups,” said Wenonah Hauter, Executive … [Read more...]
Ingredient in Roundup Weed Killer Found in Food
A peer-reviewed study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), published in Entropy, has found that residues of glyphosate, the main ingredient in the weed killer Roundup, have been found in food. Glyphosate is used on crops that are genetically engineered (GMO foods) to be "Roundup Ready". Monsanto scientists have claimed for years that Roundup is safe and non-toxic because it targets the shikimate pathway in plants, which is absent in animals. But this pathway is present in bacteria that live in human guts, which play an important role in human physiology, from immunity to synthesizing vitamins. The study's authors say that glyphosate does induce disease and is a "textbook example of exogenous semiotic entropy." Glyphosate inhibits detoxification of xenobiotics and … [Read more...]
Genetically Engineered Right to Know Act Introduced to House and Senate
Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) have introduced new legislation to the U.S. House and Senate that would require the labeling of all genetically engineered (GE) foods. The Genetically Engineered Food Right to Know Act is the first labeling bill introduced to the Senate in more than ten years. Nine senators and twenty-one representatives have signed on as co-sponsors. Senator Boxer states that more than 90% of American support the right to know what's in the foods they buy. Boxer said, "This legislation is supported by a broad coalition of consumer groups, businesses, farmers, fishermen, and parents who all agree that consumers deserve more - not less - information about the food they buy." At this time, the FDA requires labeling of more than 3,000 … [Read more...]
Hawaii Senate Rejects GMO Labeling Bill
The Hawaii Senate committees on Agriculture, Commerce and Consumer Protection and Health deferred House Bill 174, after hearing the proposal. The bill has had a rocky ride in that state. On March 19, 2013, the Senate Agriculture Committee voted to not even hear the proposal after it passed the House by a 50 to 1 margin. Then on March 20, Democrats held a caucus and said that the bill would be heard. The public hearing was held on March 21, and then the three committees deferred the bill. Some members of the Senate said they want to see a study of the issue and will call for it via a concurrent resolution. Those who spoke against the bill included Monsanto employees. They said that GMO foods are safe and that labeling would impose costs on the industry. Advocates of labeling say the … [Read more...]
Monsanto Rider Passes Senate
The Monsanto Rider, Sec. 735, passed the Senate on Wednesday, March 20, 2013. It was included in the Continuing Resolution (CR) that will fund the government through September of this year. The House is expected to pass the bill. The Center for Food Safety is condemning the inclusion of this rider, which they call a "corporate earmark" in the CR. No hearings were held on the biotech rider and many Democrats on the committee that approved the CR didn't know it was included in the bill. Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), the Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee did not bring the rider in front of the Agriculture or Judiciary Committees, as they usually would. Andrew Kimbrell, who is the Executive Director of the Center for Food Safety, said in a statement, "in this hidden … [Read more...]
Retailers Just Say No To Genetically Engineered Salmon
Whole Foods, Aldi and Trader Joe's are among the retailers who are saying no to selling genetically engineered salmon sold at their stores. The retailers are part of “Campaign for Genetically Engineered (GE)-Free Seafood,” a coalition of consumer, health, food safety and fishing groups committed to preventing genetically engineered seafood from entering the marketplace. The coalition is asking grocery stores, seafood companies restaurants and chefs to publicly commit to not knowingly purchasing or selling genetically GE salmon or other GE seafood. The movement is growing as the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) conducts its final review of a genetically engineered (GE) salmon developed by AquaBounty of Massachusetts. AquaBounty says its GE salmon, called "AquAdvantage … [Read more...]
Senators Try to Strike Monsanto Rider
Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) has introduced amendment #74 to the Senate that would strike the so-called "Monsanto Rider" that would prevent the courts from protecting farmers from GMO crops. Senator Mikulski (D-MD) is sponsoring the rider that opponents such as the Center for Food Safety say is "giving a blank check to Monsanto and other corporations to plant illegal genetically engineered crops." The Monsanto Rider (Sec. 735), which was slipped into the Senate Continuing Resolution spending bill, will let industry continue to plant GMO and GE crops even if a court of law found the seeds were illegally approved. It undermines the USDA's oversight of genetically modified and engineered crops, interferes with the U.S. judicial review process, and could be unconstitutional. It also forces the … [Read more...]
Legislators Call on FDA to Require GMO Labels
A letter signed by 55 members of Congress was sent to the FDA on March 12, 2012, asking that agency to require the labeling of genetically modified foods. The letter was signed by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (D-NY), Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and fifty-one others. With the exceptions of Richard Hanna and Bernie Sanders, all signers are Democrats. Other signers include Consumers Union, the National Cooperative Grocers Association, and the National Organic Coalition. The letter is in support of the Center for Food Safety's legal petition filed on behalf of the Just Label It campaign. That petition was filed in October 2011, and has been signed by more than 850,000 citizens. Andrew Kimbrell, Executive Director for the … [Read more...]
Federal GMO Labeling Bill to be Introduced in Congress
Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) is planning on introducing a federal bill to mandate labeling of foods containing genetically modified ingredients. The bill sets disclosure and labeling requirements for any foods that have been genetically engineered or modified. The bill will be co-sponsored by Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), who has been active on this issue for years. While this sounds like good news for those who support labeling of GMO, GE, and GM foods, an article on Alternet suggested that representatives of Walmart, General Mills, Cocoa-Cola, and others who opposed Proposition 37 in California last November may want this bill to become law so stricter bills cannot be passed in state legislatures. Federal laws generally pre-empt state laws. GMO labeling laws are under consideration … [Read more...]
MO Bill Would Require GM Fish And Meat To Be Labeled
Missouri is the latest state to tackle the issue of labeling genetically modified (GM) foods. Missouri State Senator Jamilah Nasheed has introduced a bill that would require all GM fish and livestock produced and sold within the state to be clearly labeled as genetically engineered. There is no federal law requiring GM foods to be labeled, so the issue has been taken up on the state level. In 2005, Alaska became the first, and so far only, state in the country to require that bioengineered fish be labeled. A handful of other states, including California, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington have all floated similar measures. In November, Californians voted down a ballot measure, Proposition 37, that would have required labeling all foods sold to consumers that were made from GM plants … [Read more...]
