PR Newswire | November 29, 1999
NFPA 'Strongly Supports' Current FDA Labeling Policy, But 'Well-Defined Criteria' Are Needed to Ensure Voluntary Label Statements Are Truthful and Non-Misleading
WASHINGTON - At a public meeting on food biotechnology, to be held on November 30 in Washington by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the National Food Processors Association (NFPA) will urge that FDA's voluntary consultation process on foods produced through the use of biotechnology "be made more formal and transparent."
In comments to be made at the public meeting, Dr. Jeffrey Barach, NFPA's Vice President of Special Projects, said that a more formal consultation process "would help with possible safety concerns of consumers in both the U.S. and abroad."
Dr. Barach stated that "NFPA and its members support the consultation oversight process for the safety assessment of proposed biotech foods or food ingredients. Additionally, foods produced through the use of biotechnology go through a special review in FDA if those foods are substantially different in composition from foods of comparable varieties, or if the source of the newly introduced genetic material is from a food associated with allergies. This process has worked - and worked well."
Dr. Barach noted that "We believe every single biotechnology company has participated in this voluntary consultation process prior to the marketing new food biotech products. But the fact that it is 'voluntary' has caused undue criticism. Formalizing this process would address such concerns."
In his comments, Dr. Barach also stressed that "NFPA strongly supports the current FDA policy on labeling requirements for biotech foods. We believe the policy is science-based, and is designed to mandate any information on the food label that is material or is of consequence to the consumer with respect to safety and health."
Dr. Barach said that "NFPA believes that well-defined criteria are required to ensure that any voluntary labeling statements are truthful and non-misleading. We would recommend that when any voluntary statements are used, such as "Biotech-free" or "Contains biotech ingredients", three criteria need to be met: First, a detection or threshold limit; second, substantiation, including identity preservation (traceback to the seed); and third, disclosures or accompanying statements. Well-defined criteria are very important to the integrity of this growing niche market."
Dr. Barach concluded that "NFPA urges FDA to continue its strong science-based regulatory oversight of foods produced through biotechnology. We believe that, in the years ahead, agricultural biotechnology will offer remarkable benefits to growers, processors, and - most importantly - consumers."
