FDA Moves on Voluntary GMO Labels
Ronnie Cummins- Organic Consumers Assoc.
TOP NEWS OF THE WEEK
Not Buyin’ It
From the get-go, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has been determined to keep labels off of foods containing GMOs (genetically modified organisms).
On Wednesday (March 27), FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg revealed that the FDA hasn’t changed its position on GMOs, despite two decades’ worth of studies linking GMOs, and the pesticides and herbicides required to grow them, to everything from allergies to cancer. In the catch 22 of the big GMO safety debate, Hamburg said the FDA has “not found evidence of safety risks” associated with GMOs.
Of course not. Because without labels, we humans have a hard time tracing our ailments to GMO foods.
Hamburg also revealed that the FDA plans to finalize its voluntary guidance on GMO labeling. That’s a direct affront to consumers, 90 percent of whom want mandatory labeling laws. And a bow to the food industry, which has drafted a bill that would require the FDA to rule on voluntary GMO labeling.
With Vermont and Oregon poised to pass mandatory GMO labeling laws in 2014, the FDA is clearly trying to muddy the waters with its “voluntary” guidance.
As consumers, we know that voluntary labeling means no labeling. And we’re not buying it.
Read the press release, including Hamburg’s statement
TAKE ACTION: Tell the FDA: No Watered-Down, Voluntary Federal GMO Labeling Rules!
ALERT
Secret Trade Pacts: A Lot at ‘Steak’
The EU has so far rejected U.S.-raised beef from factory farms where growth hormones are used to fatten up cattle. But U.S. corporations are pushing to open European markets to hormone-tainted beef, via an international trade agreement that is being negotiated behind closed doors.
If the Obama Administration gets its way, that trade agreement—the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)—will be rammed through Congress, with no debate, using something called the “fast track” option.
We’ve already told President Obama what we think of his plans to fast-track the TTIP, and its Pacific-Coast sister, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Now we need to tell Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Senate Finance Chairman, the same.
Why Sen. Wyden? Because many Democrats in Congress have signaled that they won’t support Fast Track. But there’s a real risk that a "compromise maker" like Sen. Wyden will offer his own bill in order to siphon off more Democratic votes and allow Fast Track to move forward. Especially given the big push by the White House and corporate lobbyists to get Fast Track done.
Creating a market for more factory farms here in the U.S. is just one of so many reasons these trade agreements are bad for your health, bad for the environment and bad for democracy. Please be part of the growing movement to stop them—and stop Congress from Fast-Tracking them.
TAKE ACTION: Tell Sen. Wyden: Don’t Fast-Track Secret Trade Agreements!
TAKE ACTION: Tell Congress: Don’t Fast-Track this Disastrous Trade Agreement
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