FDA Barring Food Makers from Advertising Products as GMO-Free

FDA Barring Food Makers from Advertising Products as GMO-Free

www.democracynow.org

The FDA meanwhile appears to be enforcing a policy of barring food producers from trumpeting that their products don’t contain genetically modified ingredients.

The FDA has sent a "flurry of enforcement letters" to companies that have advertised GMO-free products on their labels.

The warnings come on top of existing policy not to require food makers to disclose if their products do contain GMOs.

Dennis Kucinich said, "This, to me, raises questions about whose interest the FDA is protecting. They are clearly protecting industry, and not the public."

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
www.allgov.com

'Extra labeling only confuses the consumer,' biotech spokesman says
www.rawstory.com...

This spokesman needs a punch in the face!!!!!!

Ladies and gentlemen, we are entering a new era, an era where the consumer will know even less than we already do.

This MUST be fought, it just HAS TO BE FOUGHT!!!
We cannot sit idly by and let this happen, if you won't do it for yourself do it for your kids so they do not live in a GMO world!

Something has to be done here... I just have no idea what!!!

www.democracynow.org
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by ModernAcademia


wow. It's almost as if the FDA wants us to eat GMO.

I've always known government oversight (regulation) is just a fake term. They are just extra wings of corporations, to help sell their crap to the public, under the guise of protection. sickening.

Starred and flagged, stuff like this makes me sick to my stomach and I can't believe they're allowed to do what they're doing.

They're afraid of competition, that's it. They don't want people to buy non-GMO foods because, let's face it, most people know those GMO foods are crap and won't buy it if they don't have to.

Talk about confusing the consumer, that's exactly what they hope to do by removing any info about GMO or NON-GMO foods.

I think modified foods should be barred from being even sold. That's just my opinion.

What they are doing sounds illegal. If it is a fact, how can they stop a manufacturer from putting that info on their product label? If there were a question of verifiability, OK. That would be a consumer protection issue, but if it was a verifiable, true statement then there is no logical reason to prohibit it.

Such a ruling has only one goal, to protect the interests of GMO manufacturers and has nothing to do with consumer safety -- except in a negative way to ensure exposure of cosumers to the risks of GMO "foods".

Excellent thread, thank you ModernAcademia for this heads up. If one were to put all the news articles referencing acts like this by the FDA I think a clearer picture of who they really are as an arm of the corporate global agenda...would become clear.

I know many here do not like the notion of alternative medicine, but that is another topic to debate. What it makes apparent is that the FDA is always taking up for Big Pharma, Big Corporate GMO farming....pretty much all things fascist. Big Medicine, Big Oil/Energy, Big Food

This is our country "for and by the people" Im getting quite tired of contending with this corporate greed agenda getting crammed down our throats....

Im writing letters again, Im weary of this, congressmen/women be prepared for an inundation. WTF is up with this world anyway?...I mean they used anti nazi propaganda, to "fear" us into a neo nazi fascist world government...wow Machievelli would be proud.

How is the NWO going to be able to successfully feed the peasants their "soft kill" GMO foods if the peasants are able to avoid the GMO foods by reading the food labels?

Solution: Don't allow food growers to label their food as GMO-Free

Result: Peasants are uninformed, population is slowly culled.

this is upsetting. i feel like i am being pushed by the government sometimes. i feel like they are almost trying to get a fight or flight type of response. no intelligent and good hearted person can just sit idly by while evil men ruin our world. i feel like it is time to get our message out there. personally i have decided to start an anonymous information campaign in my city. if all you got is a couple cans of spray paint or a couple sharpies thats all you really need. maybe people would pay attention if they see the words NO GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS spraypainted right across the front of their local grocery chain. if you care about the world your kids are going to have to grow up in, then we got to do something now.

reply to post by Shadowfoot


So would Adolf..,...

2nd line.

It has sent a flurry of enforcement letters to food makers, including B&G Foods, which was told it could not use the phrase "GMO-free" on its Polaner All Fruit strawberry spread label because GMO refers to genetically modified organisms and strawberries are produce, not organisms.

(from the rawstory article)

WHAT?!? strawberries are not organisms?

Definition
noun, plural: organisms
(Science: Biology)
An individual living thing that can react to stimuli, reproduce, grow, and maintain homeostasis. It can be a virus, bacterium, protist, fungus, plant or an animal.

Definition of Organism

Originally posted by 2weird2live2rare2die
if all you got is a couple cans of spray paint or a couple sharpies thats all you really need. maybe people would pay attention if they see the words NO GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS spraypainted right across the front of their local grocery chain.

I am very angry at where our world is heading food-wise
However what you are describing is vandalism, and most people would prefer not to listen to vandalists i'm sure.

You will only trivialize your message by doing this.

Rather start a community of people, have a little budget and somehow collect donations to pay for print ads, paper flyers to hand out in the streets and so on.

That would be much more efficient than landing in lock up.

reply to post by ModernAcademia


of course there is always the crowd who says vandalism is wrong
that is isn't a good way to get your point across
hey, some people do a lot worse to make a statement
if you were getting the #### kicked out of you by someone wouldn't you fight dirty?
well i believe we are getting the s### kicked out of us all
and what you call vandalism i call a defense mechanism
trust me if it would get my message across i would do just about any amount of property damage
that's why we pay insurance

Hopefully there will be a website for informed consumers who are looking for a list of non-gmo food. They can't make a website illegal can they? The FDA does not exist to keep us safe. They have demonstrated that time after time. I can my own food and raise my own meat. It is going to be impossible now to eat out anywhere for fear of this stuff. I don't buy too much stuff at the grocery store anymore. I hate corporate Amerika.

Can anyone find another link with this story besides democracy now? I have looked all over the internet for a different source and cannot find one.

reply to post by hardamber


in the OPs first comment, there is a link to RawStory. It has more details.

also the Raw Story article references this article: FDA rules won't require labeling of genetically modified salmon

This has apparently been going on for a very long time. Just a cursory browse of the FDA site (which archives every enforcement letter it ever sends out) reveals things like this letter, which was sent out over five years ago and contains this exact issue:

In addition, some of your products bear a claim suggesting the absence of genetically modified organisms, such as "Non-GMO." As explained in the FDA Draft Guidance for Industry regarding "Voluntary Labeling Indicating Whether Foods Have or Have Not Been Developed Using Bioengineering," the claims "GMO free" and "Non-GMO" are not technically accurate and may be misleading.

Five YEARS ago! Closer to six, in fact, since they started that investigation in December of 2004. Why is this just now getting some attention, I wonder?

No, I don't wonder. They've gotten really good at hiding laws from us that we still have to obey (just try organizing a boycott against anything from Israel, for example). Some days, there just aren't enough expletives. We need George Carlin back. And Jesus.

If I'm selling a car, and I include "non-fattening" in its description, would I receive a letter from my state's district attorney telling me I can't say that because cars *can't* be fattening?? "You can't say it's not a genetically-modified organism because it's not an organism!" is the same thing: twisting words to suit their agenda. "Not technically accurate." Feh. The only way that could be true is if honest food makers are putting GMO stuff into their products without knowing they're doing it! And I certainly don't rule that out. Society has become lie upon lie upon lie, all in the name of maximizing profits at your expense. Makes me weep.

Your governments and beloved corporations are actively trying to poison you and everyone you know and love to a slow death, people. Just thought you should know, in case you decide to, you know... do something about it. What would you do if they were throwing grenades at your family so some corporation had an excuse to go on manufacturing them? How is this any different, other than being a little slower? Huh??

Genetic engineering, genetic modification - HUGE big business. And yeah, we are being pushed. Make that propelled.

Ya gotta wonder -

Why is the Tea Party okay with Corporate Big Government protected by international trade law, but not with us using our own big government to stand up against Global Corporate Government?

Geez, I don't know how anybody can think the FDA is in any way a legitimate organization anymore.

reply to post by ModernAcademia


Well while youa re out advocating violence against civilized people (read: not the taliban.. those folks deserve whatever violence they get), what you are failing to note here is that how can these manufacturers claim there are no GMO's in their product?

They can't... they don't know.. unless there is a test for it, like there is for trans fats, or other elements which are discovered in a lab.

I'm totally against GMOs... but at the same time I'm also against vendors selling me something they claim is GMO free when in fact there is no test to determine that....

The FDA says one thing and enforces another. What they enforce is not in the consumers best interest. See the following.

The labeling matter is further complicated because the FDA has maintained a tough stance for food makers who don't use genetically engineered ingredients and want to promote their products as an alternative. The agency allows manufacturers to label their products as not genetically engineered as long as those labels are accurate and do not imply that the products are therefore more healthful.

The agency warned the dairy industry in 1994 that it could not use "Hormone Free" labeling on milk from cows that are not given engineered hormones, because all milk contains some hormones.

It has sent a flurry of enforcement letters to food makers, including B&G Foods, which was told it could not use the phrase "GMO-free" on its Polaner All Fruit strawberry spread label because GMO refers to genetically modified organisms and strawberries are produce, not organisms.

Source: www.washingtonpost.com...