On January 24, 2011, the United States Department of Agriculture
will consider the approval of the biotech industry€™s newest product, a
livestock feed given to our nation€™s dairy cows €“ genetically engineered
alfalfa.  This livestock feed (alfalfa) will not only affect our
nation€™s milk supply, given the novel proteins and allergens that it
contains, but it also may present a risk to the increasing number of
food allergic Americans. 

Due to these concerns, Robyn O€™Brien, the founder of the
AllergyKids Foundation, has written the following letter and encourages
readers to copy and paste all of or part of its contents into the online
form found on the USDA€™s website and submit an email to the USDA and
Secretary Vilsack

at this link.

Dear Secretary Vilsack,

Your work to restore the health of the American children is
remarkable, and as a mother of four children enrolled in the public
school system, there really are not words to convey the gratitude that
you are owed for your efforts.

Your personal story, which you so candidly share about your own
weight struggles as a child, is a poignant reminder of how food affects
us in more ways than we could ever imagine.

It is along those lines that I am writing to you today. As you know,
obesity is taking its toll on the health of our children. But of equal
concern to the health of families, as well as to the Centers for Disease
Control which recently reported an astonishing 265% increase in the
related rates of hospitalizations, is that of the correlation between
the growing number of food allergic children and the introduction of
genetically engineered foods into our food supply in 1994.

According to an October 2008 report from the Centers for Disease
Control, there has been a 265% increase in the rates of hospitalizations
related to food allergic reactions. With the recent introduction of the
first genetically engineered protein into the food supply in 1994 (a
synthetic growth hormone designed to enhance profitability for the dairy
industry), the dairy allergy is now the most common food allergy in the
United States according to the Wall Street Journal and CNN. With the
introduction of the second genetically engineered product in 1996
(genetically engineered soy), soy became one of the top eight allergens
and studies demonstrated a 50% increase in the rate of soy allergies.

And while correlation is not causation, the body of a child with food
allergies sees food proteins as €œforeign€ and launches an inflammatory
response to drive out the €œforeign invader€. With the introduction of
foreign proteins into our food supply in 1994 through the genetic
engineering process, novel and foreign proteins have been introduced
into our food that weren€™t there when we were children. And while the
biotech industry does an extraordinary job of analyzing the impact that
the introduction of known allergens created in the genetic engineering
process will have on our health, according to the Food Biotechnology
Subcommittee of the Food Advisory Committee, no tests have yet been
developed to assess the effects that the introduction of the novel
allergens and proteins created in the process will have on the health
and developing immune system of a child.

Because there are not yet tests to prove the safety of these novel
proteins and allergens, parents in other developed countries have been
alerted to this fact and these genetically engineered proteins were
either not allowed into the food supply, particularly into children€™s
foods, or these novel proteins were labeled so that parents could make
an informed choice when it comes to feeding their families.

As you know, Secretary Vilsack, there is controversy around the
allergenicity associated with this new technology (which created tension
back in 2002 at a government meeting of the Food Biotechnology
Subcommittee of the Food Advisory Committee in which the committee€™s
acting chair, Edward N. Brandt, Jr., MD, PhD, said €œOf course, we
haven€™t worked into this some kind of test for allergencity, per se€¦ €œ),
prompting a reaction from renowned allergist, Dr. Fred McDaniel Atkins,
who said, €œTo me, the logical problem is that we are going to take that
stuff and feed it to the public without their informed consent.€

And as our children become increasing allergic, not only does this
create federal and regulatory challenges in schools and for the food
industry that might exceed any private benefit that the biotech industry
may receive from the approval of this patented product, but it also
creates additional challenges for our burdened healthcare system given
the increasing rates of emergency hospitalizations being seen in these
children.

Post-market surveillance would demonstrate that the novel allergens
and proteins that have been introduced into our food supply in the last
15 years should give all of us reason to pause and assess the safety of
these new products, given the increasing rates of food allergic
Americans.

Consequently, and with the utmost sincerity, I urge you to delay the
approval of genetically engineered alfalfa. This alfalfa will directly
impact our children€™s milk supply, given that it is used as livestock
feed for dairy cows. And I urge you to place the same value on the lives
of the American children that has already been placed on the lives of
children in other developed countries and exercise precaution when it
comes to the use of these genetically engineered proteins in their food,
not only because the novel proteins and allergens found in genetically
engineered alfalfa have not yet been proven safe, but also because these
novel proteins and allergens do not appear in children€™s foods in other
developed countries due to their potential risks.

The enormity of your responsibility to the health of our children
cannot be underestimated, and you are owed a debt of gratitude, as the
legacy of your decision will have such an incredible and far-reaching
impact.

With the kindest regards and heartfelt thanks for your courage and dedication,

Robyn O€™Brien

Founder, AllergyKids Foundation

Author, The Unhealthy Truth

Mother of Four