Letter to the editor: No exemptions on genetically-engineered foods and plants

Dear Editor,

Many Canadians may not be aware that Health Canada is proposing to remove regulation from most new genetically engineered foods. Local candidates in the federal election may not even be aware!

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. 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 assessed by our government, not just left to companies to evaluate safety.

Mandatory government safety assessments for all genetically engineered foods are necessary. People want to know that all genetically engineered foods have been rigorously assessed for safety by Health Canada, including any new gene-edited foods. Private companies cannot be trusted to test for safety properly!

We need transparency, independent science, and government oversight! Information and analysis by the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network are available here.

Sincerely,
Julie Dupuis

Noelville