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Why all GE foods
should be labeled

Voter pamphlet arguments

HUNDREDS OF SCIENTISTS, INCLUDING THE FDA’S OWN EXPERTS, HAVE WARNED THAT GENETICALLY ENGINEERED FOODS POSE HIGHER RISKS TO HUMAN HEALTH THAN DO OTHER FOODS.

VOTE YES ON 27 TO LABEL THEM.

• Professors of molecular biology at leading universities such as Harvard, M.I.T., and the University of California, Berkeley have issued cautions about the abnormal risks of GE foods.
• Professor Philip Regal, a renowned expert at the University of Minnesota, has written: "…there are scientifically justified concerns about the safety of genetically engineered foods, and some of them could be quite dangerous.” Declaration, 5/28/9 www.biointegrity.org/regaldeclaration.html
• The Royal Society of Canada states it is “scientifically unjustifiable” to presume that GE foods are safe. Expert Panel Report, 1/01
• The scientists at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also recognized the unique hazards of GE foods and repeatedly warned about them. This was exposed when a lawsuit by public interest groups forced the FDA to divulge its files.
• The FDA’s scientists concluded that genetic engineering is inherently hazardous and can produce unintended new toxins that are unpredictable and difficult to detect. They cautioned that no GE food can be considered safe unless it has passed rigorous toxicological tests.
• An FDA official summarized the experts’ opinions by stating: "The processes of genetic engineering and traditional breeding are different, and according to the technical experts in the agency, they lead to different risks." (Dr. Linda Kahl memo, 1/8/92. #1 in the set of photocopies of FDA memos at www.biointegrity.org/list.html
• Nevertheless, FDA bureaucrats, who admit they are following a directive to foster the biotechnology industry, disregarded their experts’ input and claimed there’s an overwhelming consensus among experts that GE foods are so safe they don’t need to be tested. Based on this false claim, they allowed GE foods to be marketed without any testing.
• No GE food has passed all the safety tests the FDA experts said are necessary.

(All bulleted text from www.biointegrity.org)