Reuters | November 15, 1999 | By Julie Vorman
WASHINGTON - Tom Billy, administrator of the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, was cited as saying today that the food industry and U.S. activist groups should call a truce and try to work out a compromise on how American consumers can get the information they want about bioengineered foods, adding, "I think the food industry and consumer groups ought to get together and try to work this out."
The story notes that on Thursday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will have a public hearing in Chicago to find out what consumers think about genetically modified foods.
Although the hearing will be held in a federal building, the FDA has reserved a hotel ballroom for what it expects to be an overflow crowd of food, farm, consumer and environmental groups with sharply different views on the safety of biotech foods and whether special labels should be required for them.
The FDA is holding a series of public hearings as part of its reassessment of what changes - if any - are needed in food production and labelling regulations.
The USDA, which has authority over field tests of genetically altered crops, is also taking a closer look at its own regulations.
Billy was cited as refusing to take a position on whether labels may be needed on food packages to identify bioengineered ingredients, adding, "We need to better communicate what the FDA already has in place to regulate biotech foods. There are good safeguards in place but they seem to be well-kept secrets."
Currently, the FDA requires special labels only on bioengineered foods that have been significantly changed in nutritional content, or where an allergen has been added.
Some 38 industry groups, including the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Restaurant Association and the U.S. Grains Council, last week urged President Bill Clinton to reject activist calls for labels that could undercut the government's focus on science-based rules.
