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rDNA technologies, regulatory concerns, labeling

rDNA technologies deployed in agriculture

Regulatory concerns: food safety, ecology, economy

Laws governing food containing GMOs Beyond food and evil: The limits of organic labeling

as a basis for a comprehensive GMO policy

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rDNA technologies

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Regulatory concerns

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Regulatory concerns Lack of fitness for human consumption

Adulteration: general population. Starlink

Genetic source: specific, sensitive population

Biological breakouts

Hybridization with wild relatives. GM canola

Super salmon outcompete wild relatives

Smaller organisms, faster evolutionary clock

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Regulatory concerns, continued Resistance in targetorganisms

Bt-resistant insects

Cf.glyphosate resistance and the impact of

nontherapeutic antibiotic use on human health

Unintended harm to nontargetorganisms

Bts impact on all Lepidoptera(monarch)

Cf.bee colony collapse and bioaccumulation

Economic injury to nonadopting farmers

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Laws regulating GMO use

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Labeling rules under the FD&CA and OFPA

FD&CA402(a)(1), 409: adulteration

Outright bans and targeted labeling

FD&CA201(n), 403(a)(1):

misbranding

New Plant Varieties(1992)

GRAS under201(s), 409

No across-the-board labeling requirement

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Labeling rules, continued Premarket Biotechology Noticesand

Voluntary Labeling Guidance(2001)

GM foods are presumptively marketable after

completion of the PBN process

Labels disclosing GMOs are not required

GM/biotech free labels need disclaimers

OFPA: The organic label has become the

de factosignal of non-GMO status

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The limits of labeling as GMO regulation

The OFPA lacks the FD&CAs consumer

protection mandate

FD&CA patrols adulteration andmisbranding

Organic makes no claims regarding the

intrinsic safety or value of food. Nor could it.

Often the right answer is an outright ban ora production-level limit, not a label

Little or no impact on farm size or structure

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Beyond food and evil Behavioral psychology and the mindscape

of American agricultural policy

Labeling puts all the weight of profound policy

decisions on consumer-level choices

Food choices are notoriously irrational

Sweet and greasy foods naturally appeal Every child knows that finicky eaters survive

Law, science, and safety in the balance

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Thank you

Jim Chenjim.chen@louisville.edu

502-852-6879