Consumer Groups Support Petition Calling for Labels on Genetically Engineered Food

The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) has written a letter to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) supporting a legal petition that demands required labeling of all genetically engineered (GE) food. Information about the October 4, 2011, petition filed by the Center for Food Safety appear in Issue 412 of this Update.

Representing nearly 300 nonprofit consumer organizations concerned with food safety, agricultural biotechnology, food and agricultural policy, and nutrition, CFA claims that current FDA regulations fail to provide consumers with information about GE food despite growing public interest in food content. “Genetically engineered foods are required to be labeled in the 15 European Union nations, Russia, Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand, and many other countries around the world,” the November 23 letter states. “U.S. consumers should be provided the same basic information about GE foods as consumers in these other countries.”