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FDA Will Not Require Labels for Genetically Engineered Animals

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration yesterday announced that it would not require food producers to label meat, poultry or seafood sourced from genetically engineered or genetically modified animals.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration yesterday announced that it would not require food producers to label meat, poultry or seafood sourced from genetically engineered or genetically modified animals.

Several groups, including Consumer Reports publisher the Consumers Union, expressed disappointment at the decision, arguing that it ignores the shopper’s right to choose to consume or not consume these types of products.

"Despite thousands of comments from consumers saying they want to know if engineered meat or fish is in their supermarket, FDA claims these foods are not different from conventional food, and therefore don't need to be labeled," Jean Halloran, director of food policy initiatives at Consumers Union, wrote in a statement. "This flies in the face of consumer opinion and common sense. These foods should be labeled because they are different — in FDA's terms the presence of novel genes is a material fact.”

In a recent poll sponsored by Consumers Union, 95% of respondents said they favored labeling of milk and meat from genetically engineered animals.

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