Meeting focuses on genetically engineered food labels

The sustainable living department at Maharishi University of Management will host an informational meeting about the Boxer-DeFazio ?Dear Colleague Letter? circulating now in Congress at 8 p.m. Thursday in Dalby Hall.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Rep. Peter DeFazio?s letter (D-OR) urges members of Congress to sign a bicameral letter asking the Food and Drug Administration to label genetically engineered food.

The letter states: ?When Americans are not provided accurate and essential information about the products they purchase they do not have the freedom to make choices ... By giving American consumers information fundamental to their choices in the marketplace, we protect and promote the integrity and health of our economy.?

The letter to the FDA was written in response to a recent legal petition filed on behalf of more than 400 organizations and businesses demanding the FDA require clear labeling of genetically engineered food. More than half a million comments have already been submitted to the FDA in support of the petition.

An estimated 80 percent of food on supermarket shelves contain genetically engineered ingredients. Twenty-one states, including Iowa, have introduced legislation to label genetically engineered food.

To read the Dear Colleague Letter visit the website www.truthinlabelingcoalition.org.