A spokesperson for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently explained that the FDA does not have the authority from Congress to make actual safety declarations on genetically engineered foods. Instead the FDA is simply reviewing the limited data that the biotech companies present to the agency. These admissions by the FDA further document the position that the regulatory scheme in place in the United States for biotech crops is totally inadequate to protect the safety of the American public. It is time for the Congress to pass legislation that will force the FDA to require both labeling and adequate safety testing of genetically engineered foods.
St. Louis Post Dispatch December 20, 2003