HEADLINE: Thanksgiving Feast '98; Is Biotech's Bounty Risking Your Family's Health?; Scientists, Mothers Say 'Be Careful'; An estimated sixty percent of all foods served by Americans for their holiday feast will contain genetically engineered ingredients which have never been subjected to long-term safety testing, and which a growing number of scientists fear may be hazardous to you and your family's health.FAIRFIELD, Iowa, Nov. 19
It's the Holiday season and you and your family are gathered around the table with a feast for the senses, the soul, and the palate.
It's fresh, it's cooked with love ... and much of it is genetically engineered.
So is it safe? Maybe, but maybe not."I don't want to spoil appetites for Thanksgiving dinner, but most Americans would not willingly take risks with their family's health if they had the choice," says Laura Ticciati, executive director of Mothers for Natural Law, the primary consumer clearinghouse for this issue in the U.S.
"Every mother in this country would want to know about the virus and bacteria genes that have been spliced into our holiday meals. But the government refuses to provide us with this information," Ticciati says, "It's ironic that we're allowed to know graphic details about the president's affairs, but we can't know what's in the foods we feed our children. Actually, it's fairly outrageous, don't you think?"
According to Ticciati, genetically engineered foods have been manipulated on the level of their DNA with substances that have never before been part of the human diet.
"We don't know what the long range effects will be -- and our kids are caught in the middle. In fact, many scientists have major concerns about these foods and their potential link to debilitating illnesses, the evidence of new toxins and allergens, higher estrogen levels, the creation of superbacteria, the loss of biodiversity, the destruction of the genetic heritage of the planet, and the ethical and spiritual ramifications of allowing human beings into, what many consider to be, God's domain."
What Genetically Engineered Foods Are on Your Thanksgiving Table?
- WHIPPED CREAM -- The whipped cream on your pumpkin pie could contain a genetically altered drug designed to increase milk production. According to several scientific studies, it is considered a serious risk factor for increased breast, colon and prostate cancers.
- CRANBERRY SAUCE -- The cranberry sauce probably contains corn syrup from corn engineered to produce its own insect-killing toxins. The same goes for the potatoes and cottonseed oils in the chips you're serving as an appetizer. In fact, the sack of seed potatoes used by farmers may be the variety that's officially registered by the EPA as a pesticide.
- STUFFING AND GRAVY -- The stuffing and gravy mixes probably contain soybean oil that comes from beans spliced with bacteria and virus genes. And there's a good chance your turkey has been raised on genetically engineered animal feed.
- THE LIST GOES ON -- The dinner rolls, the canola oil for sauteed onions, the salad dressings, the sodas for the kids, the marshmallows on the sweet potato pie, the fruit cocktails, the Jello, the mashed potatoes, the tomatoes, the butter ... all probably chock full of genetically engineered organisms, oils, dairy products, sweeteners and vitamins.
"Genetic engineering is too new to be rushed out of the labs and onto our dinner tables," Ticciati says. "The potential health and environmental hazards, not to mention the ethics of rewriting the genetic blueprint of life itself, demand caution. It's just plain old common sense."
Find Out How to Shop Non-GE for the Holidays
Mothers for Natural Law is in the final push of their one million signature petition drive to secure the mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods. To sign the Consumer Right to Know petition for mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods and to find out more about this issue, including how to shop for the Holidays, call toll-free 1-877-REAL FOOD. SOURCE Mothers for Natural Law
CONTACT: Jane Martin for Mothers for Natural Law, 515-472-2809
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