Laws & Politics
FDA: No labeling needed for meat or fish from genetically engineered animals
By Sue Mueller
Jan 29, 2009 - 3:58:23 PM

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Jan 29, 2009 (foodconsumer.org) -- Consumer Union reported Jan 15, 2009 that the FDA had announced that it would not require labeling on meat or fish from genetically engineered animals.

The Final Guidance on Regulation of Genetically Engineered Animals, released just two days before the dissolution of the Bush administration, states that FDA will require a mandatory safety approval process, but no labeling will be required.

The consumer Union characterized the FDA action as a last favor intended for the industry. It said its recent poll found than 95 percent of consumers support labeling of meat and milk from genetically engineered animals.

"Despite thousands of comments from consumers saying they want to know if engineered meat or fish is in their supermarket, FDA claims these foods are not different from conventional food, and therefore don't need to be labeled," stated Jean Halloran, Director of Food Policy Initiatives at Consumers Union, nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports.

"This flies in the face of consumer opinion and common sense. These foods should be labeled because they are different--in FDA's terms the presence of novel genes is a material fact," Halloran stated.

Michael Hansen, PhD, a senior scientist at Consumers Union indicated that he was concerned about the safety of genetically engineered animals.