Rushed USDA Changes Could Endanger Food Supply

Rushed USDA Changes Could Endanger Food Supply
Dear MuleKist,

UCS scientists and independent experts agree that if food staples such as corn and rice are engineered to produce drugs and other chemicals, they are very likely to contaminate the food supply and pose serious human health and environmental risks for years to come.

Now, as the clock winds down on the current administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has joined the ranks of federal agencies rushing through new regulations that weaken protections for human health and the environment. The agency’s proposed regulations could significantly weaken restrictions on genetically engineered crops that produce pharmaceuticals and industrial chemicals—greatly increasing the likelihood that vaccines, hormones, plastics, and other substances could end up in our nation’s food supply. Write to the USDA today and demand stronger—not weaker—regulations for these dangerous crops!

Sincerely,

Jennifer Palembas
Outreach Coordinator
Food & Environment Program
Union of Concerned Scientists



Contact the USDA today by submitting the comments below
I am writing to oppose the USDA’s proposed regulations for oversight of genetically engineered crops that produce drugs and industrial chemicals (pharma crops).

The USDA is going in the wrong direction on pharma crops. Rather than weaken current regulations, the department should protect the food supply from pharma crops—by instituting a ban on the outdoor production of these drugs and industrial chemicals in crops that are also human food staples, like corn and rice.

Pharma crop regulations are already too weak; yet this proposal will remove the mandatory requirements that are currently in place and instead allow agency officials wide discretion to declare certain pharma crop substances as low risk and therefore subject to minimal control.

I urge you to withdraw these weaker pharma crop regulations and instead adopt a ban on the outdoor production of these substances in food crops. This is the only way to adequately protect the food supply.


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Write today to tell the USDA to strengthen pharma crop oversight.


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