In an effort to persuade the FDA to put labels on genetically engineered (GE) foods, the Just Label It Coalition submitted more than 1 million comments to the FDA’s www.regulations.gov website on March 27, the final day comments were accepted. It took 180 days for the record-breaking number of comments to be generated on the GE-foods labeling petition, which had been filed in October 2011.
Since October, Just Label It, a national campaign pushing for GE food labeling, and its more than 500 partner organizations have spearheaded a historic number of public comments for a GE food-labeling petition.
"Submitting gathered signatures and uploading them has been common practice as long as the public has been able to submit electronic comments," Heather Whitehead, director at the Center for Food Safety (CFS), in a press release. "Perhaps this record number of commenters calling for transparency in labeling will focus the FDA to action on this issue, and put pressure on FDA to allow in the future for increased transparency in the public comment process by making changes necessary to allow for individual comments directed from third-party sites."
Additionally, a national survey by Just Label It recently revealed that Americans across the political spectrum support the labeling of food that has been genetically engineered. For more information, visit www.justlabelit.org.