by Royce Radcliffe

Created on: April 18, 2007   Last Updated: April 21, 2007

Though I am of the opinion (borne of a lot of reading) that genetically engineered food is not dangerous, it is nonetheless deeply troubling that these foods are not labeled or differentiated from their non-engineered counterparts in any way whatsoever. This to me is a slap in the face of consumers the world over.

People deserve to know what they are eating. That is the whole premise behind labeling ingredients to begin with! So where the ingredients came from and the methods use to get them should be labeled just as well.

GE foods are controversial. This is one of the things that casts a shadow over the whole industry. It makes people think it is a conspiracy or something. By not labeling GE foods as such it is like an admission that to do so would be to hurt sales. All of this contributes to the perception of GE crops being as ambiguous as it is today.

There are some organizations trying to petition the Food and Drug Administration to have them put labels on GE grown food. I think this is a great idea. You can find a good petition at www.thecampaign.org/alertFDA012405.php.

I really do think that GE crops are our greatest weapon in the fight against worldwide starvation. That said, people deserve to know whether what they are eating is genetically engineered or naturally grown, and therefore I think we need our groceries to start labeling the food specifically.

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