Is Biotech's Bounty Risking Your Family's Health?

Media Release
Copyright 1998 PR Newswire Association, Inc.
November 19, 1998


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?

"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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