Comment & Debate
Erica Martenson. “The benefits of labeling genetically-modified foods.” January 01, 2008: “So, why should consumers be wary of GM foods? The biotech industry claims that the FDA has thoroughly evaluated GM foods and found them to be safe; this claim is untrue. FDA documents, made public from a lawsuit, revealed that FDA scientists warned that GM foods could create toxins, allergens, nutritional problems and cancer, which might be difficult to link to GM foods, especially if they are unlabeled. Nevertheless, political appointees at the FDA, with strong ties to industry, ignored their own scientists; and still to this day, official FDA policy claims that GM foods are “substantially equivalent” to natural foods and do not, therefore, require safety testing nor labeling.”