Fwd: New U.S. Poll on GE Foods + Health Canada Report

[Guest guest]

CancerAnswer, JoAnn Guest <joguest@m...> wrote:

 

 

The Campaign <information@t...> wrote: The Campaign

angelprincessjo

New U.S. Poll on GE Foods + Health Canada Report

Tue, 27 Nov 2001 05:43:02 PST

 

News Update From The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods

----

 

Dear Health Freedom Fighters,

 

Posted below are two short articles.

 

The first article titled " Americans Still Don't Know Much About

Biotech:

Poll " is from the mainstream grocery trade publication " Supermarket

News. " It reports on an ongoing study being conducted by Rutgers

University's Food Policy Institute and funded in part by the U.S.

Department of Agriculture.

 

The study found that only four out of 10 people know that genetically

engineered foods are being sold in grocery stores. And a whopping 98%

of

those responding to the survey said genetically modified foods should

be

labeled!

 

The second article titled " Critics call government action plan on GMO

foods 'a whitewash' " discusses a report on genetically engineered

foods

that was released on Friday by Health Canada.

 

The 31-page " Action Plan " from Health Canada was issued as a response

to

recommendations made by the Royal Society of Canada regarding

genetically modified foods.

 

Last February, an Expert Scientific Panel of the Royal Society of

Canada

issued a report titled " Elements of Precaution: Recommendations for

the

Regulation of Food, Biotechnology in Canada. " It called for a much

higher scientific assessment of genetically modified foods.

 

Health Canada appears to have ignored many of the recommendations of

the

Expert Scientific Panel of the Royal Society of Canada. The " Action

Plan " gives the illusion of agreeing with the points made by the

Expert

Scientific Panel. But it does little to implement the recommendations.

Instead the Health Canada report calls for more studies and review.

 

If you would like to read the 31-page report, The Campaign to Label

Genetically Engineered Foods has posted it as an Adobe Acrobat

document

on our web site at:

http://www.thecampaign.org/RSC_response.pdf

 

You can also read it as an HTML document at Health Canada's web site:

http://www.hc-

sc.gc.ca/english/health_protection/royalsociety/index.htm

 

Craig Winters

Executive Director

The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods

 

The Campaign

PO Box 55699

Seattle, WA 98155

Tel: 425-771-4049

Fax: 603-825-5841

E-mail: label@t...

Web Site: http://www.thecampaign.org

 

Mission Statement: " To create 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. "

 

***************************************************************

 

Supermarket News

http://www.supermarketnews.com/

 

Americans Still Don't Know Much About Biotech: Poll

 

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (November 26, 2001) - Even after extensive media

coverage and public debate, Americans remain largely uninformed about

biotechnology, a Rutgers University study shows. Only four in 10

respondents in a survey conducted by the university's Food Policy

Institute said they are aware that genetically modified foods are sold

at their local market, and more than two-thirds said they have never

had

a conversation about biotechnology. The ongoing study, funded in part

by

the U.S. Department of Agriculture, also turned up this: Nearly

three-quarters of those surveyed said they would approve of the use of

genetic modification to create less expensive or better-tasting

produce,

though 48% said they wouldn't buy fresh vegetables that carry such

labels. Nearly all respondents, 98%, said foods created through GM

processes should have special labels on them.

 

Roseanne Harper

 

***************************************************************

 

Critics call government action plan on GMO foods 'a whitewash'

 

Canadian Press

 

Monday, November 26, 2001

 

OTTAWA (CP) - Health Canada's action plan on genetically modified

foods

is a cynical, dishonest whitewash that does nothing to implement the

key

recommendations of a government-appointed panel of scientific experts,

environmental critics said Monday.

 

" Ottawa's so-called action plan is nothing but a whitewash, " said Eric

Darier of Greenpeace. " Instead of fixing a broken regulatory system

for

food biotechnology in Canada, Ottawa continues to ignore, lie, deny

and

delay with promises of further studies and revamped public relations

materials. "

 

The action plan was released after government business hours at the

end

of last week, 10 months after the Royal Society of Canada issued a

scathing report that called for a much higher scientific assessment of

genetically modified foods.

 

Elizabeth May of the Sierra Club of Canada said Health Canada's

response, " leaves fundamental issues of conflict of interest and the

need for transparency, democracy, peer review and independent

assessment

unresolved. "

 

Canada is the third-largest producer of genetically modified crops in

the world and the federal government has approved more than 40

varieties

of modified corn, potatoes, tomatoes, squash and other plants.

 

Recommendations from the scientific experts included calling in

independent auditors to double-check every step of federal regulation

and more openness throughout the process.

 

Their February report also recommended a moratorium on the raising of

genetically modified fish in pens, from which they might escape to

interbreed with wild fish.

 

None of those recommendations was implemented in the Health Canada

action plan.

..

 

 

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destroys itself " -----*Franklin D. Roosevelt* " Food is power... are

you in control of yours? " *John Jeavons*, Ecology Action-- " Health is

not a medical issue! " =Theaimcompanies ==

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