Sludge Watch ==> Label genetically modified foods - public wants it - its affordable

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludgewatch Admin:
We do not know the behaviour and fate of genetically modified foods through 
the sewage system.
What role are engineered foods playing in the larger environment...after 
they leave the factory sewage system or after they travel through the 
intestinal tract and the toilet?

As this story states, there may be important implications for antibiotic 
resistance.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.


Cost to label genetic food is overblown: Just $28 million a year: Quebec 
study 87% want to know if food contains GMOs
18.mar.07
The Gazette (Montreal)
Michelle Lalonde

A new study commissioned by Quebec's Department of Agriculture, Fisheries 
and Food -- as-yet-unpublished but obtained by The Gazette -- was cited as 
finding that mandatory labelling of genetically modified foods would cost 
much less than the food industry has claimed, approximately $28 million to 
Quebec's food industry and $1.7 million to the provincial government.
Previous studies commissioned by the food industry - and cited by the 
federal and Quebec governments as reason not to act on the issue - pegged 
the annual cost of implementing such a system at up to $950 million (both 
government and industry) for the whole country, and up to $200 million in 
Quebec alone.
The story says that at a news conference planned for this afternoon, 
environmental groups, organic food advocates and consumer groups are 
expected to renew calls for mandatory labelling in Quebec and to denounce 
Jean Charest's Liberals for abandoning a 2003 election pledge to bring in a 
labelling system.
Eric Darier of Greenpeace was cited as saying the new study, written by 
Martin Cloutier of the Universite du Quebec a Montreal, shows that the cost 
of mandatory labelling is reasonable, adding, "Thirty million is a much 
lower figure than what (the food industry) has been saying."
Darier added that considering Quebecers spend about $30 billion on food 
every year, it is a cost that could and should be absorbed by the industry.
The story notes that Greenpeace and other anti-GMO groups argue that 
long-term human health effects of consuming genetically engineered food have 
not been studied, and cite such potential health risks as resistance to 
antibiotics and allergic reactions.