Fwd: New ABC News Poll -- 92% want labeling of GE foods!!!

[Guest guest]

16 Jul 2003 21:11:07 -0000

 

News Update from The Campaign

New ABC News Poll -- 92% want labeling of GE foods!!!

 

News Update From The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods

----

 

Dear News Update Subscribers,

 

In June 2001, an ABC News poll reported that 93% of the American public

want genetically engineered foods labeled. Yesterday, the results of a

brand new ABC News poll were announced that show 92% of the public still

want genetically engineered foods labeled!

 

As you know, it is nearly impossible to get that large of a percentage

of the American public to agree on anything.

 

Posted below are two articles that discuss the new ABC News poll. The

first is from Reuters titled " Most in US would shun labeled biotech

foods-poll. " The second is from ABC News and is titled " Genetic

Resistance -- Poll: Modified Foods Give Consumers Pause. "

 

The majority of consumers polled also stated that they would avoid

genetically engineered foods that are labeled.

 

The percentage of consumers who think genetically engineered foods are

unsafe has gone down slightly in the past two years from 52 to 46

percent. And the percentage who think they are safe has gone up from 35

to 46 percent.

 

Those percentage changes on the safety issue are not a big surprise

considering the biotech industry has been spending an estimated 50

million dollars a year promoting genetically engineered foods. Promoters

of biotech foods are constantly trying to get the message out that

" there is no evidence that genetically modified foods are unsafe. "

 

THE REAL TRUTH IS THAT THERE IS NO PROOF GENETICALLY ENGINEERED FOODS

ARE SAFE SINCE NO HUMAN FEEDING STUDIES HAVE BEEN CONDUCTED.

 

Absence of proof that they are unsafe does not necessarily mean they are safe.

It just means that nobody has been testing these foods and no one can say

for sure whether they are safe or not. Many people could be experiencing mild or

even severe allergic reactions from eating these experimental, untested foods.

 

WHAT WE CAN SAY FOR SURE, BASED ON RELIABLE POLLS, IS THAT THE VAST

MAJORITY OF THE AMERICAN PUBLIC WANT GENETICALLY ENGINEERED FOODS

LABELED -- AND IT IS ABOUT TIME THAT OUR GOVERNMENT GIVES US THIS RIGHT!

 

Representative Dennis Kucinich will be in Seattle this weekend. I will

get an update from him on when he expects to introduce the " Genetically

Engineered Food Right to Know Act of 2003 " before the U.S. House of

Representatives. This new ABC News poll should help him make his case to

other members of Congress on why they should co-sponsor this popular

labeling legislation.

 

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

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. "

 

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

 

Most in US would shun labeled biotech foods-poll

 

WASHINGTON, July 15 (Reuters) - More than half of American adults

surveyed said they would be less likely to buy a food product at the

grocery store if it carried a label saying it contained gene-altered

ingredients, according to an ABC News poll released on Tuesday.

 

The survey of 1,024 adults also found that 92 percent said the federal

government should require labels on biotech foods.

 

U.S. food makers and the Bush administration oppose special labels on

genetically modified foods, contending they meet the same safety and

nutrition standards as conventional foods. However, the European

Parliament earlier this month passed laws to require labels on biotech

foods, reflecting the concerns of many Europeans about long-term health

and environmental impacts.

 

The ABC News poll said that 55 percent of Americans surveyed said they

would avoid foods carrying a biotech label. However, that survey

response rose to 62 percent among women, who do most of the food

shopping for U.S. families.

 

The survey, however, also found a gain in the number of Americans who

believe biotech foods are safe to eat. Some 46 percent said they

considered bioengineered food safe, up from 35 percent in a similar poll

conducted in June 2001, ABC News said.

 

About 80 percent of the U.S. soybean crop and 40 percent of the corn

crop are genetically modified varieties.

 

The telephone poll was conducted last week with a random national sample

of adults. The results have a three-percentage-point margin for error,

ABC News said.

 

The European regulations, which will require the food industry to

segregate biotech crops from conventional ones, will not go into effect

for several months.

 

07/15/03 13:20 ET

 

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

 

Genetic Resistance

Poll: Modified Foods Give Consumers Pause

 

Analysis

By David Morris

abcNEWS.com

 

July 15 - A third of Americans try to avoid buying foods that have been

genetically modified or treated with antibiotics or hormones - and that

resistance apparently would swell if such products were required to be

labeled, as the public broadly desires.

 

There have been gains in the belief that genetically modified food is

safe to eat - up 11 points since 2001, to 46 percent, the latest ABCNEWS

poll finds. Still, if it were labeled, 55 percent of Americans say

they'd avoid such foods, including 62 percent of women, who do most food

shopping.

 

Nearly half of adults, 47 percent, also say they'd try to avoid hormone-

or antibiotic-treated food if it were labeled as such, the poll finds.

 

As things stand, without labels, about one-third of Americans say they

try to avoid buying both kinds of foods. The rest say it's not important

enough to bother.

 

The food industry opposes mandatory labeling, perhaps reflecting its

concerns over the level of consumer resistance. But in this survey, huge

majorities of Americans favor mandatory labeling - 92 percent for

genetically modified foods, and 85 percent for food from farm animals

that have been fed hormones or antibiotics.

 

On the flip side of the labeling issue, 51 percent say they're attracted

to foods with labels saying they're not genetically modified; and 46

percent say the same for food labeled as hormone- and antibiotic-free.

 

Safety Concerns

 

The public divides evenly, 46 percent to 46 percent, on whether

genetically modified foods are safe to eat, indicating more acceptance

than two years ago, when these foods were seen as unsafe by a margin of

52 percent to 35 percent.

 

There's also a division on food from farm animals treated with hormones

or antibiotics; 49 percent think it's safe, 42 percent unsafe.

 

Gene-Altered Food

Sex Safe Unsafe

All 46% 46%

Men 56% 36%

Women 37% 54%

 

Again, there's a difference by sex, with women less apt than men to say

these foods are safe. Women's concerns peak specifically with

gene-altered food; 54 percent think it's unsafe, while 56 percent of men

say the opposite. (In 2001, however, more women - 62 percent - thought

bio-engineered foods were unsafe.)

 

Hormone-Treated Food

Sex Safe Unsafe

All 49% 42%

Men 53% 39%

Women 45% 44%

 

More generally, nine in 10 adults think food eaten in the United States

is safe, far more than say that about genetically altered or

hormone-treated food. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture

and private studies, at least one-third of U.S. crops are

bio-engineered, including two-thirds of soybeans.

 

Residents of the Midwest, sometimes referred to as the Farm Belt, have a

slightly more favorable view of gene-altered food; 53 percent think it's

safe, compared with 39 percent in the Northeast. People who've attended

college are also more likely to say altered foods are safe.

 

Methodology

 

This ABCNEWS poll was conducted by telephone July 9-13 among a random

national sample of 1,024 adults. The results have a three-point error

margin. Sampling, data collection and tabulation were done by TNS

Intersearch of Horsham, PA.

 

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

 

If you would like to comment on this News Update, you can do so at the

forum section of our web site at: http://www.thecampaign.org/forums

 

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

 

 

 

 

@

 

Alternative Medicine/Health-Vitamins, Herbs, Aminos, etc.

 

To , e-mail to:

alternative_medicine_forum-

 

Or, go to our group site at:

alternative_medicine_forum

 

 

 

SBC DSL - Now only $29.95 per month!