FDA Safety Review Bill Scored

March 10, 2000

A new House bill that would require a safety review by the Food and Drug Administration of all foods from genetically engineered crops is "nothing more than a backdoor effort to undermine the use of biotechnology in this country," says the National Food Processors Association.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D_OH) announced the legislation Thursday as a way to "overhaul the testing and review process of genetically engineered foods by the FDA." Forty_seven members have cosponsored an earlier bill by Kucinich that requires labeling of food produced with or containing genetically engineered products.

"Food additive reviews regularly take a decade or longer to complete," said Kelly Johnston, NFPA's executive vice president of government affairs and communications. "Obviously Rep. Kucinich is taking this approach in order to halt the introduction of new biotech food products. His goal is apparently to block the use of food biotechnology, not to ensure its safety."

Johnston said the bill's authorized user fees to pay for biotech food reviews "is unnecessary and punitive. Imposing a broken regulatory process on these foods, and then forcing the companies developing these products to pay for the privilege of being over-regulated, is truly absurd."