FEBRUARY 15, 2011, 9:00 PM Why Aren¹t G.M.O. Foods Labeled? By MARK BITTMAN
If you want to avoid sugar, aspartame, trans-fats, MSG, or just about anything else, you read the label. If you want to avoid G.M.O.¹s ? genetically modified organisms ? you¹re out of luck. They¹re not listed. You could, until now, simply buy organic foods, which by law can¹t contain more than 5 percent G.M.O.¹s. Now, however, even that may not work. In the last three weeks, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved three new kinds of genetically engineered (G.E.) foods: alfalfa (which becomes hay), a type of corn grown to produce ethanol), and sugar beets. And the approval by the Food and Drug Administration of a super-fast-growing salmon ? the first genetically modified animal to be sold in the U.S., but probably not the last ? may not be far behind.
It¹s unlikely that these products¹ potential benefits could possibly outweigh their potential for harm. But even more unbelievable is that the F.D.A.and the U.S.D.A. will not require any of these products, or foods containing them, to be labeled as genetically engineered, because they don¹t want to ³suggest or imply² that these foods are ³different.² (Labels with half-truths about health benefits appear to be O.K., but that¹s another story.) They are arguably different, but more important, people are leery of them. Nearly an entire continent ? it¹s called Europe ? is so wary that G.E. crops are barely grown there and there are strict bans on imports (that policy is in danger). Furthermore, most foods containing more than
0.9 percent G.M.O.¹s must be labeled. (cont.)