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| No | 5% | 6 votes | Total: 116 votes | |
| Yes | 95% | 110 votes |
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Add to Favorites* GENETIC MODIFICATION and TRUTH IN ADVERTISING *
Interesting concepts each. What is entailed in these two concepts? And who owes what to whom?
As a consumer, most of us have no specialized expertise to make sense of the labels that are placed on products these days with a cornucopia of drugs, dyes and injected
'supplements '. We can try. But, do we have time? Would we understand the ingredients or genetic modifications? More importantly, would we believe that what we are being told (by the distributor, the farmer, the FDA) is actually true, complete and factual? A product label can tell me that RED DYE #23 was used and I wouldn't have a clue regarding the chemical breakdown or if they had used pigs blood to make that specific color. So how important - really - is our labeling?
We ask our legislators to 'protect' us by setting up all of these entities to be our ombudsman thinking that "someone has to be responsible" to give us the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth as we duly swear in our courts. Yet, all we know from long experience is that the growers or producers - like any other corporation - are looking to produce the best product, at the cheapest price, in the quickest manner to get the best rate of return for themselves and their shareholders.
Further more, the F.D.A. (Food and Drug Administration), being an arm of the federal government whose salaries you pay from your taxes, has ever-changing guidelines based on the technical breakthroughs, whims of the lobbyists of the drug companies and agri-businesses who are pushing a specific agenda to "YOUR" congressional representative, who will vote for that which, they believe, will be best for the American consumer. What IS the truth? Whose truth is it? And is the final decision something that will perfectly fit the needs of every consumer?
Of course not!
The farmer, the distributor, the FDA, et al, cannot know what specific product is going to cause a physical problem for YOU the consumer. Nor can they presuppose that anything they print (complete or not) will address the needs of each consumer.
'Caviat Emptor' is the rule in ANY purchase. Buyer beware! Beware of what your needs are. Differentiate your needs from your wants. What you think ought to be good for your family. And what you are willing to pay for that product.
YOU should know what ailments and infirmities you have. Nowadays, even if your doctor prescribes you a drug, you have no way of knowing if that doctor read your chart properly, was under personal stress, whether the chosen drug is experimental, being pushed by a drug company or if it has any contraindications to any other medication or food you take that will cause serious harm. The situation may never have arisen before in your case. Are we to assume that food and government bodies have any more vested interest in your body than your very personal physician?
In each of these scenarios we have at the heart of the matter a certain element of trust. But NOT blind trust.
Each of us has to make our own personal choice on any purchase. And it must be remembered that we have that luxury. In how many countries around the world are people still scrounging or fighting for a bit of fly-infested meat or rice grains picked from the dirt as their next meal? And then remember how litigious our society has become because we choose to blame someone else for our real or perceived injuries.
And we wonder why life has become so complicated. Remember,
there are NO guarantees in life.
Learn more about this author, Tim Schroll.
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Yes
Should the FDA require US food manufactures to reveal if foods are genetically modified? The FDA must be aware that genetically modified foods can and do produce allergic reactions in many people and that these reactions can range from mild symptoms to life threatening ones. The FDA is responsible for the safety of food supplies and drugs sold and purchased in the United States.
The FDA has a responsibility to ensure that Americans are safe from foods that may harm them. Genetically modified are proven to cause allergic reactions in some people and the general public should be properly informed of the dangers of consuming genetically modified foods.
There should be proper labels containing information that warns the consumer of the possibility the food they are purchasing could cause an allergic reaction and informing the consumer that the product they are purchasing has been genetically modified.
Failure by the FDA to inform and protect the consumer from potentially harmful food supplies is negligence. Genetically modified foods from the United States are banned in many other countries because of the wide spread fear that they are unsafe. Once again our own FDA has failed to protect the American consumer. The FDA has previously approved drugs for sale in the United States that were banned in the majority of developed countries around the world. When this information was made public questions as to the integrity of the FDA were made. Is the FDA conspiring with special interest groups in not outright banning the sale of genetically modified foods in the United States?
It would seem logical for the FDA to at a minimum, require proper labeling for genetically modified foods. The public has a right to be informed as to the known hazards of consuming genetically modified foods. The FDA has a moral if not a legal obligation to protect uninformed and unsuspecting consumers.
Learn more about this author, Danette M. Scott.
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