October 24, 2001
Ms.
Betsy Holden
President
and CEO
Kraft
Foods North America
Three
Lakes Drive
Northfield,
IL 60093
Dear
Ms. Holden:
We
are writing on behalf of Genetically Engineered Food Alert to inform you of
vital new information regarding the allergenicity of genetically engineered
corn and to ask you to phase out genetically engineered corn from all of your
food products as soon as possible.
While we believe that genetically engineered ingredients should not be
on the market at all until mandatory testing, labeling, and liability standards
are in place, given the seriousness of the data gaps concerning corn, we ask
you to immediately phase out genetically engineered corn ingredients.
American
consumers want their food to be safe, yet the government agencies responsible
for ensuring food safety are not adequately doing so. Studies have shown that
genetically engineered foods may cause deleterious health effects, including
allergenicity, toxicity, and increased antibiotic resistance. However, critical
tests to assess these risks, allergenicity in particular, are not being
performed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), despite recommendation
by EPA’s own scientific advisors. Our
own recent investigation into EPA files has found evidence that corn especially
raises health concerns. This research,
outlined in our letter to Kraft dated September 28th, 2001, makes this point
and is attached for your reference. The
letter can also be found at our website at www.gefoodalert.org, along with additional
information about corn.
Kraft’s
own recommendations to regulatory authorities called for stronger regulations
of genetically engineered crops, such as fully validated testing procedures as
a pre-condition for approval (Kraft press release, 9/22/00). These recommendations are not being
implemented by government agencies. In
addition to the lack of oversight of these crops by EPA, the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) does not mandate that genetically engineered foods be
tested to determine their effects on human health, nor does it require that
they be labeled. In response to this
lack of government testing of these crops, and due to heightened concern of the
allergenicity of genetically engineered corn, Genetically Engineered Food Alert
just announced that we will implement a new allergy testing program for
individuals who have suffered unexplained allergic reactions that are
potentially related to genetically engineered corn.
Many of the health and liability risks of
genetically engineered foods mentioned above were brought to the attention of
consumers, farmers, and food companies alike with the discovery of StarLinkä corn in the food supply. We applaud Kraft Food’s work to protect
consumers by quickly recalling your products contaminated with StarLinkä and by switching to non-genetically
engineered white corn in all Kraft taco products. As you stated in response to the StarLinkä contamination, “All of us—government,
industry, and the scientific community—need to work on ways to prevent this
kind of situation from ever happening again.”
While
we hope that Kraft will take action on that statement by phasing out the use of
all genetically engineered ingredients until mandatory testing, labeling, and
liability standards are in place, our immediate concerns about corn lead us to
request that Kraft immediately take the following steps:
1. Stop using genetically
engineered corn and corn derivatives in all of your products, as corn raises
serious concerns of allergenicity, and
2. Label products containing
other genetically engineered ingredients, so consumers can make sound choices
in the marketplace.
We
look forward to working with you to take these responsible steps and request a
meeting to discuss this in more detail.
Please contact Kate Madigan at 213-251-3680 x315 to schedule a meeting
or with any questions.
Sincerely,
Wendy
Wendlandt, National Political Director
The
State PIRGs
Matt
Rand, Campaign Manager for Biotechnology
National
Environmental Trust
Joseph
Mendelson, Legal Director
The
Center for Food Safety
Mark
Ritchie, President
Institute
for Agriculture and Trade Policy
Ronnie
Cummins
Organic
Consumers Association
Larry Bohlen, Director, Health and Environment Programs
Friends of the Earth
Ellen
Hickey, Research and Communications Coordinator
Pesticide
Action Network (PAN) North America