ld be allowed but how it should be regulated. Supporters of this technology want to ensure that people know what is real versus what isnt and so they want to enforce regulating labeling their products. Congress has provided the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) a limited basis on which to require labeling. Generally, for FDA to require labeling there must be something different about the food. In general, this means most genetically engineered foods will not need special labeling because they will be similar to the real thing, but there are exceptions, such as when a gene from a food that could cause an allergic reaction--peanuts, for example--is transferred into another food. In that case, FDA policy places the burden on the developer. "The food will have to be labeled so everyone will know it contains an allergen, unless the developer can show scientifically that the allergenicity has not been transferred," says Laura Tarantino, Ph.D., deputy director of FDA's Office of Pre-market Approval. Fortunately, the products in front of us right now don't raise those issues." FDA also will require labeling if a company uses genetic engineering techniques to change a food's composition significantly. For example, when one manufacturer modified canola to produce increased levels of lauric and myristic acids in the seed oil, FDA agreed that the common or usual name for this oil would be "laurate canola oil" in order to distinguish it from traditional canola oil. People outside industry mainly, consumers, consumer organizations, environmental groups, independent scientists, European farmers, and public health organizations are the other players on the opposing side to this argument that states that genetically engineered products do not have a good track record for human safety. There are currently more than four-dozen genetically engineered foods and crops being grown or sold in the US. These foods and crops are widely dispersed into the foo...
