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Mothers for Natural LawInternational News on Genetic Engineering in AgricultureBiweekly News 99/10/16Thanks to Dennis Dey, Richard Wolfson, and NLP Wessex for these items.
Articles have been aggressively shortened. ------------------ NATURAL LAW PARTY NEWS FLASH SUPPORT FEDERAL LABELING OF GENETICALLY ENGINEERED FOODS:
U.S. Rep. David Bonior (D-Mich.), who was a featured speaker at the Natural Law Party's Genetic Engineering Summit in Detroit, and U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) are currently circulating a very important letter among members of the U.S. House of Representatives. (A similar letter will soon reach members of the U.S. Senate.) This sign-on letter calls on the Food and Drug Administration to enforce the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act by requiring mandatory labeling and safety testing of genetically engineered foods. Rep. Bonior, the Democratic Whip in the U.S. House, is working in conjunction with 45 national organizations to support this crucial initiative. He is the only Member of Congress who was willing to accept the 500,000 petition signatures demanding mandatory labeling that were submitted to Congress earlier this year by Mothers for Natural Law. PLEASE URGE YOUR REPRESENTATIVE AND SENATORS TO SIGN ON TO THIS IMPORTANT LETTER. Just call the national Capitol switchboard toll-free at 1-202-224-3121 and ask to speak to your Representative or Senators. You can also email your Representative directly from www.house.gov/writerep. To obtain email addresses, mailing addresses, and phone numbers for your Senators, just go to www.senate.gov and select the name of your state; you will then be able to link to your Senators' websites. (Your Senators may not have seen the letter yet, but you can alert them to support it when it arrives.) If your Representative or Senators would like a copy of the Bonior/Kucinich letter, background material about the hazards of genetic engineering, or any other pertinent information, please ask them to call the Natural Law Party at 800-332-0000, ext. 118. Natural Law Party representatives will also be happy to visit your Representative or Senator in his or her Washington, D.C., office to talk more about this issue. PLEASE ACT TODAY. Also, please urge your family, friends, and everyone in your email address book to participate in this crucial initiative to protect the safety of our food supply. Be a part of history in the making. Contact your Representative and Senators today! The following US Representatives have signed on to the Bonior letter: Michael Capuano (D-MA); Bill Clay (D-MO); Peter DeFazio (D-OR); Loyd Doggett (D-TX); Barney Frank (D-MA); Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD); Dennis Kucinich (D-OH); George Miller (D-CA); Patsy Mink (D-HI); ); Martin Sabo (D-MN); Christopher Shays (R-CT); Mike Thompson (D-CA); Tom Udall (D-NM). ------------------ Copyright 1999 PR Newswire Association, Inc. PR Newswire Washington, October 4, 1999, Monday -00:01 Eastern Time Corn Growers Work With Congress to Develop a Universal Certificate for Non-GMO Crops; Certificate Will Include a Waiver of Liability on Agricultural Producers The American Corn Growers Association(ACGA) is working with Congressional leaders to introduce legislation on the development of a universal certificate form for non-GMO crops. The certificate, as suggested by the ACGA, will be provided by the first purchaser of grain and will verify that the crops being delivered to a local elevator were planted from non-GMO seed. The form will also relieve farmers from any liability if they purchased, planted and harvested non-GMOs in good faith... "There is no reason why a farmer who purchased and planted non-GMO seed should be held liable if his field was contaminated due to misrepresentation by the seed company or if cross pollination occurred from a neighbor's GMO crop," said Gary Goldberg, Chief Executive Officer of the ACGA. ------------------ US Grain Group Urges Firms to Create GM-crop Tests WASHINGTON, Oct 6 (Reuters) - The National Grain and Feed Association on Wednesday said seed companies should develop efficient, low-cost tests to enable grain handlers and processors to detect genetically modified (GM) commodities. The NGFA, which represents about 1,000 grain, feed and merchandising firms in the United States, said changing consumer attitudes and regulatory rules were making the ability to identify GM-crops crucial. "The responsibility to provide the marketplace with the tools to make such determinations most appropriately lies with biotechnology and seed companies that are introducing seed varieties with new characteristics," NGFA said in a position paper on biotech grains and oilseeds. Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited. ------------------ Women Say NO to GMOs Women say no to GMOs is a new initiative that offers everyone, if they are concerned about genetic engineering, the chance to say NO. The initiative is supported by Joan Ruddock, MP, (UK) the UK Soil Association, Paul McCartney and his family, Jerry Hall, Anita Roddick and many other celebrities They are collecting signatures at their online petition. It's important to collect as many signatures as possible in time for WTO (World Trade Organisation) talks in Seattle in November. To sign their petition, please visit their site: http://www.organicsdirect.co.uk/gm.html ------------------ Japan Economic Newswire BANGKOK, Sept. 27 Kyodo Thailand to Declare GMO-free Zones Thailand will establish agricultural zones declared free of genetically modified organisms ( GMOs) in a bid to promote exports, a senior government official said Monday. 'Agricultural products from GMO-free zones exported to foreign markets will be guaranteed by Thai authorities as GMO-free,' said Newin Chidchob, deputy agriculture minister... 'We have no policy of allowing trading in modified food in Thailand. GMO plants are banned from import, except for study and research, and we never produce and export such food,' Newin said. The authorities will announce certain agricultural areas where the whole process of agricultural production -- from seed to harvest -- is controlled, he said, noting the zone will be expanded until the entire nation is declared GMO-free. ------------------ Tuesday September 28, 9:03 am Eastern Time Company Press Release Health Express USA Breaks Ground for First Healthy Bites Grill FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 28, 1999--Health Express USA (OTC BB:HEXS) has broken ground for Healthy Bites Grill, the first in a nationwide chain of restaurants that will offer a full menu of healthy and organic food in a familiar fast-food format. The new 3,000-square-foot Healthy Bites Grill, located on Commercial Boulevard just north of downtown Fort Lauderdale, is scheduled to open this fall, according to Douglas Baker, president of Health Express USA. ``The response we have received to the concept has been nothing short of amazing,'' said Baker. Copyright © 1999 Business Wire. ------------------ Copyright 1999 Scottish Daily Record & Sunday Mail Ltd. Daily Record October 13, 1999, Wednesday Beastly Shock In Your Beauty Box;
Margaret Mallon CONSUMER fears over genetically-modified crops have already forced many food suppliers to ban so-called Frankenstein foods. Now concerns over GM crops have reached the lucrative cosmetics industry. Soya and maize - the main mutant plants licensed for use in food - are also used in a huge number of beauty products. Derivatives are included in expensive moisturisers, powder compacts, eye shadow, anti- ageing cream and lipsticks. One of the key concerns is the routine inclusion of antibiotic genes in genetically-altered crops, which might get into cosmetics. Doctors have warned that it becomes more difficult to treat infections in people who are routinely exposed to antibiotics and there are also concerns about unforeseen allergic reactions. The European Commission is currently investigating the use of GM derived ingredients in all products - food and cosmetics. ------------------ Copyright 1999 ITAR-TASS News Agency TASS Moscow, October 5, 1999, Tuesday -07:01 Eastern Time Rules on Genetically Modified Products Adopted in Russia By Anna Bazhenova A new document on control over the sale of products, obtained on the basis of genetically modified sources, has been signed by Russian Chief Health Officer Gennadi Onishchenko. Under the document, all the legal entities and natural persons purchasing and selling genetically modified farm produce and medicinal preparations will have to include information on genetically modified sources in the transportation documents, starting from January 1, 2000. The sale to the population of foodstuffs and medicinal preparations, obtained from genetically modified sources, without special marking on the package will be banned, starting from July 1, 2000. The document says that the foodstuffs, obtained from genetically modified sources, which do not contain DNA and proteins, specifically food and aromatic additives, refined oil, modified starch and glucose syrups, are not subject to the marking. ------------------ Science News Online The Weekly Newsmagazine of Science Volume 156, Number 1 (July 3, 1999) Bt-treated Crops May Induce Allergies By J. Raloff Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), a moth-killing bacterium that farmers use as an insecticide, has been considered nontoxic to all but a few types of insect larvae. It may pose some health risk for people, however. A new study of Ohio crop pickers and handlers finds that Bt can provoke immunological changes indicative of a developing allergy. With long-term exposure, affected individuals might develop asthma or other serious allergic reactions, notes study leader I. Leonard Bernstein of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Copyright © 1999, Science Service. ------------------ Irish Government Sees No Current Threat From GMOs 12:55 p.m. Oct 11, 1999 Eastern DUBLIN (Reuters) - The Irish government has approved a cautious policy toward the growing of genetically modified organisms after a report on the controversial food technology, according to a government statement received Monday. ``The scientific evidence presented to us does not suggest that, so far, the use of genetic modification technologies in agricultural crops has produced any harmful effects on human health or the environment,'' the report said. Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited. ------------------ MAIL ON SUNDAY September 19, 1999 Pg. 43 Frankenfish Wiping out Wild Salmon William Lowther STRAINS of farm-bred fish developed to grow fat quickly are threatening to drive Britain's majestic wild salmon into extinction. Millions of modified fish have escaped into the Atlantic from offshore farms in Europe and America. And the new strains are mating with wild salmon, polluting their gene pool and producing hybrids that can't survive in the open ocean. Don Staniford, of the Scottish office of Friends of the Earth, said yesterday: 'Wild salmon are nearly extinct in a number of Scottish regions and rivers where they used to be plentiful. There's certainly a link between the decline of our wild salmon and the escape of these farm-bred fish. It's genetic pollution.' Sue Scott, of the Atlantic Salmon Federation in New Brunswick, Canada, added: 'The farm fish are bred to be fat and lazy. Their genes have been manipulated by crossbreeding to produce a fish that grows quickly. 'They are kept in huge pens in the open ocean off the coast of New Brunswick and the coast of Maine in the States. And over the last few years millions of them have escaped into the Atlantic. 'Wild salmon are muscular and built to make a long voyage into the ocean and back. But over the longer term the farm fish can't survive in the ocean and neither can the offspring of wild salmon and farm fish. The resulting fish can't make the rigorous migration and that's one of the reasons the wild salmon are being wiped out.' ------------------ In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is compiled for educational use only. |
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