Many Canadians may not be aware that Health Canada is proposing to remove regulation from most new genetically engineered foods. A public consultation ended just before the summer and the minister of Health Canada is making her decision now, to go ahead or not.
Health Canada is proposing to let some new genetically engineered foods onto the market without any government safety checks. In fact, companies wouldn’t even have to tell Health Canada that these new foods exist. The door would be wide open. Many of these unregulated foods would be produced by the new genetic engineering techniques called gene editing. But gene-edited foods need to be carefully “long-term” assessments by our government, not just left to companies to evaluate safety.
I want mandatory government safety long- term assessments for all genetically engineered foods. I want to know that all genetically engineered foods have been rigorously assessed for safety by Health Canada, including any new gene-edited foods. I don’t trust private companies to properly test for safety. Instead, I want independent science and government oversight.
There is information and analysis posed by the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network at www.cban.ca/NoExemptions
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