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New U.S. poll on GE foods
& Health Canada report

November 27

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: mailto:label@thecampaign.org 
Web Site: http://www.thecampaign.org 

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Supermarket News

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.

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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.