H.R._______
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Representative Serene Lau introduced the following bill which was referred to the Committee on ___________________.
Required Labeling on Genetically Modified Food
Section One:
This bill will require the labeling of genetically modified food in the United States of America.
Section Two:
Congress hereby finds and declares that genetically modified foods should require labeling and identification because the functions of genetic manipulation are only partially understood and may cause critical harm. For years, genetically modified food has been a challenging controversial problem among the world. There are numbers of dispute between the advantages and disadvantage in the food production of using genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Genetically modified organisms are organisms whose genetic material have been altered by taking genes from one species and inserting them into another in an attempt to obtain a desired trait that the original species did not have. Many countries around the world have banned the production of GMOs in their nation. United States does not only NOT ban GMOs but manufacturers are not required to identify or label a GMOs product. The public should have the right to know what they are consuming. Genetically modified food can also increase human health risk and impact the environment negatively.
The human population may be at risk if genetically modified foods are used around the world. “In 30 countries including [nations] in Europe, Japan and Australia, GMOs have been banned...or restricted significantly, due to safety concerns,” stated by Chris Kilham of Fox News , “...other nations are considering more aggressive restrictions against engineered food.” T...
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...fied food and improve the environment.
Works Cited
Kilham, Chris "FOX News - Health - Health Home." FOX News - Health - Health Home http://health.foxnews.mobi/quickPage.html?page=31737&content=84677993&pageNum=-1 "Genetic Engineering: The World's Greatest Scam?" Greenpeace, YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H9WZGKQeYg Ali, Syed Mohammad "Genetically Modified Food-crops: Blessing or Curse?" The Express Tribune Genetically Modified Foodcrops Blessing or Curse Comments http://tribune.com.pk/story/480482/genetically-modified-food-crops-blessing-or-curse/ Spector, Michael "The Seed Wars." The New Yorker http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/comment/2012/11/voting-on-genetically-engineered-food-in-california.html "Genetic Engineering." Greenpeace International
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/agriculture/problem/genetic-engineering/
Most individuals with a general background knowledge of the United States Federal Government system are aware that in order for a bill to become a law, it must first pass a majority vote in Congress. There is, however, a very important step in the legislative process that sometimes goes unnoticed. The committee system of the legislation process ensures that the appropriate attention is given to each bill introduced to Congress. Each member of both chambers are assigned to committees and subcommittees, and are expected to become subject matter experts in their respective roles as committee members.
The committees overseeing bill S.1028 were the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, and the subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging.
Do you know what you're really voting for? Iowan farmer Reg Clause suggests you may not in his column, “Say ‘no’ to GMO labeling.” Reminding readers that general election day has come, he attempts to convince us that a certain law should be voted against. The proposed legislation would mandate all foods that contain genetically modified organisms, also know as GMOs, to display a warning label on their packaging. He argues that this would be detrimental to the good name of these types of foods when they do not deserve to be shamed. I agree that the genetically engineered crops should not be labeled, but not because that would tarnish their name. However, the reasoning for my opinion comes from the perspective that it would not only be impractical
The technological advances are increasing each year, and electronics are not the only things upgraded. The food eaten in the United States has also been touched by science in the form of GMOs. Although GMOs have been in the US food industry for almost twenty years, consumers should have the right to know what is in our food with mandatory GMO labeling.
"Senate Joint Resolution No. 232." Legislative Information System. Legislative Information System, 08 Mar. 2012. Web. 25 Oct. 2013.
National Conference of State Legislatures. Wendy Underhill , 26 Mar. 2014. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.
It has been suggested that this type of legislation has largely been introduced to fi...
Until the government creates mandates for issuing labels on foods that contain genetically modified ingredients, there are measures that can be taken by common citizens and supporters of GMO labeling in order to keep Americans safe in the meantime. Since “study after study points to potential health risks” (“Whole Foods Market”), supporters need to raise awareness amongst the rest of society in order to generate a large group that can begin to press the government to create a law to handle the issue. It is in “the state’s interest [to] protect consumers from false or potentially misleading communication or prevent consumers from suffering unwitting harms” (Adler). Moreover, the government must be the one to put an official end to the lack of
Food is an essential part of everyday life without it one could not survive. Every day we make choices on what we put in to our bodies. There are countless varieties of food to choose from to meet the diverse tastes of the increasing population. Almost all food requires a label explaining the ingredients and the nutritional value allowing consumers to make informed decisions on what they are consuming. However, many may not be considering where that food is coming from or how it has been produced. Unfortunately, there is more to food than meets the eye. Since 1992, “ the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ruled, based on woefully limited data, that genetically modified foods were ‘substantially equivalent’ to their non-GM counterparts” (Why to Support Labeling). GM food advocates have promised to create more nutritious food that will be able to grow in harsh climate conditions and eventually put an end to world hunger in anticipation of the growing population. There is very little evidence to support these claims and study after study has proven just the opposite. GM crops are not only unsafe to consume, but their growing practices are harmful to the environment, and multinational corporations are putting farmers out of business.
GMOs can also bear consequences in terms of genetic pollution and alteration, from contamination and mutation to adaptation to evolution to species extinction. Indeed, some claims are not well supported and may require testing, like genetic alteration through consumption or the validity of correlating animal health deficits with GM feeds. However, overall, GM foods clearly affect the world negatively in terms of biodiversity and ecosystem impacts. With all of the controversy surrounding GMO foods: health versus biodiversity; benefits versus dangers; pros versus cons, a topic that always arises is the subject of labeling. Labeling has been a matter of discussion for years and surprisingly, it is a hot debate that is still full of life.
Consuming foods that have been genetically altered have serious health risks based on research done on rats by The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM), an international organization of physicians. Risks include infertility, immune system problems, accelerated aging, disruption of insulin and cholesterol regulation, gastrointestinal problems and organ damage. Many AAEM physicians have prescribed non-GMO diets for all patients to improve health conditions. Jeffrey M. Smith, an advocate for non-GMO, says scientific research shows the link of GM food to thousands of sick, sterile, and dead livestock; thousands of toxic and allergic reactions in humans; and damage t...
How many of you hear the words “genetically modified food” and immediately think “BAD”? How many of you scorn the idea that genetically modified foods are useful? How many of you have been manipulated by the media to think that all biotechnology is evil? Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are organisms that have been genetically spliced to achieve a certain trait. As the demand for a larger food supply is increasing due to population growth, the benefits that GMO foods provide are being hailed as the only solution to the food crisis. However, many people are making inadequately informed decisions, and are pushing them to the back shelf. I will inform you on why genetically modified organisms may be the only way to a stable, safe future for the less fortunate.
In conclusion, the application of genetically modified food has a lot of pros and cons. There is so much disagreement about the benefits and risks of GM because there are so many different views surrounding it. This issue is very important today because it will change our future. How would the world be when every single living creature will be in some aspect genetically modified? Would we be more resistant to illness? Or would we be weaker and more vulnerable to diseases? Would this be the beginning of the mutant era? Regardless of the answers to these questions, we will need to consider the implications of genetically modified foods.
“Genetically modified foods are a "Pandora's box" of known and unknown risks to humans and the environment. They have been forced onto the American public by multinational biotech and agribusiness corporations without adequate oversight and regulation by the United States government (Driscoll, SallyMorley, David C).”Genetically Modified Food is food which has been chemically altered by scientists during the production process to give the food more nutrients, better appearance, and a longer shelf-life (Rich, Alex K.Warhol, Tom). The importance of this issue is that these GMO’s can actually have a negative effect in our society in general. It could mutate in a negative way and cause cancer or other diseases. Genetically modified food should be strictly controlled due to its various detrimental effects on the environment, human health, and potentially insect/animal effects.
Scientists have been changing genomes of plants and animals by integrating new genes from a different species through genetic engineering, creating a genetically modified organism (GMO). Consumers in America have been eating GMOs since 1996, when they went on the market. There are benefits to genetically modifying crop plants, as it improves the crop quality and increases yield, affecting the economy and developing countries. But there are also negative effects from GMOs. Consumption of GMOs has various health effects on both body systems of animals and humans. GMOs also affect the environment, ecosystems and other animal species. The cons outweigh the pros in the case of GMOs.