Labels on modified foods becoming a sticky issue
 Source: Boston Herald
 Publication date: 2000-03-29

American consumers should know if the milk they pour on their cereal
comes from cows that have been injected with a growth hormone or if that
cereal comes from a genetically modified plant, biotechnology opponents
and activists say.

But such labels could mislead people and cause them to be afraid of
foods that have been proven safe, food industry leaders claimed yesterday 
at the BIO 2000 biotech industry meeting.

"If biotech foods are unsafe, they shouldn't be labeled - they should
be pulled from the market," said Gene Grabowski, spokesman for the
Grocery Manufacturers of America. "But the (U.S. Department of
Agriculture), the (Food and Drug Administration) and the (Environnmental
Protection Agency) all say they are safe."

While the food industry defended biotech products inside the Hynes
Convention Center, opponents went on the offensive outside the hall, 
mounting an impromptu debate with willing Bio 2000 participants.

Among the activists' concerns are the potential effects of foods
derived from genetically modified organisms.

Milk from cows treated with growth hormone, for example, contains high
levels of an insulin-like growth factor associated with cancer, said
Luke Anderson, an active critic of biotech who helped organize the
debate.

"And yet, the American public is not being told if the milk they're
pouring on their cereal in the morning comes from cows treated with this
hormone."

Biotech researchers and executives said they must do more to teach
people about their work, both in food and medicine.

"We are dependent on the security the world feels around the products
we are creating," said Henri A. Termeer, chief executive of Cambridge's
Genzyme Corp.

 Publication date: 2000-03-29
 (c) 2000, YellowBrix, Inc.