LETTERS: CONSUMERS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GENETIC ALTERING

To the editor:

Imagine my surprise when I opened the Southeast Missourian and found such an erroneous story as "Biotechnology: Practice has a long history in food production." One cannot blame the reporter, however, since he was merely reporting the information given to him.

According to Gerald Bryan, Missouri Extension Service agronomist, "Farmers have been using genetic engineering for centuries." I was raised on a farm in Southern Illinois, and I don't recall ever seeing my father inserting DNA and antibiotic-resistant markers into his crops. This type of genetic manipulation cannot occur in nature, only in a laboratory.

As far as the safety of genetically engineered food, we cannot possibly know at this point. We do know that there has been some disagreement within the Food and Drug Administration's advisory committee concerning safety. One of the biggest concerns is the introduction of proteins that has never before been in the human diet.

The proponents of the biotech industry claim genetically engineered agriculture products are the same as traditionally produced products. If this is true, then why is Bt corn classified by the Environmental Protection Agency as a pesticide, and genetically engineered trout and salmon classified with the FDA as drugs?

There are bills in Congress that would require all genetically altered foods to be labeled. You should have the right to know that you are eating these foods. If I have the right to know where my salt and pepper shakers are produced, I should have the right to know if I'm eating a salmon that is really a drug.

BECKY BROWN

Cape Girardeau