C. Manly Molpus
Grocery Manufacturers of America, Inc.
President and Chief Executive Officer
1010 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Ninth Floor
Washington, D.C. 20007

Dear President and CEO Molpus,

I am very disturbed by the misinformation campaign your organization is waging on behalf of the agriculture biotech industry. Your organization continually states that American consumers are not concerned about genetically engineered foods when THE FACTS CLEARLY SHOW OTHERWISE.

A recent survey done for the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology found that 65 PERCENT of the Americans surveyed indicated that they ARE CONCERNED about the safety of genetically modified foods.

If consumers are not concerned about genetically engineered foods, why did a recent poll done by ABC News indicate that 93% of Americans surveyed want genetically modified food labeled?

It seems that your organization thinks that if it lies to the American public enough times, people will eventually believe your lies. However, by continuing to engage in your misinformation campaign, you are causing people to lose respect for the credibility of your organization.

Rather than muddying up the picture with lies, the GMA and the biotech industry should agree to label genetically modified foods. If genetically engineered foods are safe, then it should be the responsibility of the biotech industry to provide enough information to consumers so that they willingly purchase the labeled products.

It should come as no surprise that consumers are concerned with the safety of genetically engineered foods. Indeed, the very companies that produce these products are the same ones vouching for their safety. The review process by the FDA is not adequate in the minds of many reputable scientists.

For example, the potential allergy problem from StarLink corn totally escaped the regulatory review process of the FDA. It was the EPA that discovered the problem when reviewing StarLink corn since it has a built-in pesticide. The FDA should have caught the potential allergy problem but did not because of the holes in its review process.

Americans want genetically engineered foods to be labeled just like citizens in dozens of other countries around the world where mandatory labeling requirements are either already in place or have recently been passed into law.

The GMA’s position on genetically engineered foods is clearly out of line with the will of the American people. It is time for your organization to get in touch with the desire of the American public and support mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods. And, please, no more lies!

Americans ARE concerned about the safety of genetically engineered foods (65%) and WE DO WANT THEM LABELED (93%)!

Sincerely,
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