FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 30, 2001 

SHOPPERS HIT GROCERY AISLES TODAY TO LABEL GE FOOD 

Day Marks National Launch of Citizen's Labeling Brigade 

Citizens in at least 11 cities across America today took to grocery store aisles 
to label foods suspected of containing genetically engineered (GE) ingredients. 
In doing so, they launched a new volunteer movement committed to guaranteeing the 
public the ability to know what is in their food. In this National Day of Action, 
community groups used stickers to place warning labels on food products. The 
labels indicate foods that may contain genetically engineered ingredients. 

Volunteers were in the aisles of grocery stores in San Francisco, New York City, 
Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, Arizona, Burlington, Long Island, Rhode 
Island and Boston. In San Francisco, volunteers labeled food products such as 
cereals, salad dressings and baby foods, as a crowd outside demonstrated against 
the government's refusal to label genetically engineered food. 

Thirty-two countries have laws requiring food producers to label any foods containing 
GMOs, including, China, Russia, Japan, New Zealand, Australia and all 15 countries 
of the European Union. By contrast, the Food and Drug Administration has chosen to 
ignore over 600,000 comments and has proposed only a voluntary labeling standard 
for genetically engineered foods. 

"The FDA allows voluntary labeling of gene-altered food so we are here to voluntarily 
label these experimental foods. Consumers deserve the right to know if there are 
GMOs in their food and the right to say no." 

These actions came as federal legislation is being prepared by California Senator 
Barbara Boxer and Ohio Congressman Dennis Kuccinich that calls for mandatory labeling 
of genetically engineered food. Thus far, California Senator Dianne Feinstein has 
failed to support the bill. Feinstein has received campaign contributions from grocery 
chain Safeway and from BIO, the genetic engineering industry trade group. 

In a recent ABC News poll (June 2001), 93 percent of respondents said they wanted 
mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods. Food producers, farmers and 
consumers worldwide have shunned genetically engineered crops because of concerns 
over the potential adverse health and environmental effects. Genetically engineered 
foods have undergone no long-term safety testing, with some even showing 
unpredictable effects on wildlife and the potential to cause allergies. 

Members of the public interested in carrying out their own voluntary labeling of 
genetically engineered foods can get advice, stickers and inspiration at 
http://www.labelthis.org