Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility, a group
of doctors committed to human health, patient safety, scientific
honesty and environmental protection, supports a yes vote on Measure
27.
Less than a decade since their introduction, two-thirds
of products in U.S. supermarket shelves contain genetically engineered
(GE) ingredients. Only one-third of Americans are aware that their
foods contain GE ingredients. Multiple polls show that 85% to 95%
of citizens favor labeling.
Currently, food substances are labeled for vitamin,
mineral, caloric and fat content; wines containing sulfites warn
those allergic. The European Union requires labeling; many countries
ban import of GE foods from the US; other countries have or are
considering labeling laws and import bans. Unfortunately, US regulatory
agencies rely on safety tests done by GE product-producing companies.
Risks of GE foods include: toxicities from new proteins
(deadly eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome in consumers of GE tryptophan
supplements); altered nutritional value; transfer of antibiotic
resistance genes, contributing to antibiotic resistance; increased
pesticide use when pests develop resistance to GE food toxins; herbicide-resistant
“superweeds”; non-target insects dying from exposure
to pesticide-resistant crops, with ripple effects on other species;
GE plants and animals interbreeding with and contaminating wild
populations; GE plants outcompeting, or driving to extinction, wild
varieties; GE plants adversely altering soil quality; decreased
agricultural biodiversity; and corporate control of agriculture,
with the transmogrification of farmers into “bioserfs.”
Labeling of GE foods will prevent dangerous allergic
attacks (as occurred in unsuspecting consumers of soybeans modified
with Brazil Nut genes); allow vegetarians to avoid plants injected
with animal genes; and allow concerned individuals to avoid ingesting
milk from cattle injected with recombinant BGH, which increases
levels of potentially-carcinogenic IGF-1 in milk.
Labeling will increase public awareness of genetic
engineering, allow us freedom to choose what we eat based on individual
willingness to confront risk, and ensure a healthy public debate
over the merits of genetic modification of foodstuffs.
Board of Directors
Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility
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