Jim Guest President

Recently, Consumer Reports has written about the health and safety aspects of seafood, milk, beef, and cereal. In this issue, we look at current concerns about chicken and about water.

But Consumers Union's efforts go far beyond the pages of Consumer Reports. Our public-policy advocates are respected and vocal contributors to national policy on food safety and labeling. Here are two topics we're working on.

Making sure organic is organic. In October, national organic standards established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) went into effect. The Organic Food Protection Act of 1990 mandated the development of a fixed set of standards for any food using the "organic" label. Twelve years and hundreds of thousands of public comments later (including many from CU), consumers finally have a standard definition of what an organic label means.

There had been an earlier labeling system and, in most cases, organic-certification programs policed themselves well. But there were dozens of such programs, each with its own label. The system wasn't entirely successful because consumers couldn't be sure of what each label--and the certification behind it--actually meant.

Now you'll find clear labels that will be consistent from product to product. If a box of cereal, a bag of chips, or a bottle of juice is labeled "100% organic," the USDA is certifying that all the ingredients are produced without most synthetic pesticides or any petroleum- or sewage sludge-based fertilizers, genetic engineering, or ionizing radiation. Organically raised chickens, cows, and pigs get no antibiotics and no growth hormones, and must have access to the outdoors.

CU believes the new program should give consumers a consistent and easily identifiable tool for choosing what we feed our families. But all the good may be undone by industry groups that are lobbying the USDA for waivers that would allow producers to bend the rules. We believe the answer should be a resounding no; lobbyists should not be granted the power to play with our food. CU will watch closely and speak up loudly, to ensure that the integrity of organic labeling is not undermined.

A little recombinant DNA technology with your fries? At the very least, we have a right to know what we're eating. Just as producers are required to state on the label if juice comes from concentrate, they should be required to tell us if their food--our food--has had its genetic material altered. But they're not.

CU hasn't seen evidence that genetically engineered (GE) foods now on the market are unsafe to eat. But there isn't a lot of safety research yet; it simply hasn't been done. The federal government doesn't require it.

This is in striking contrast to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval process for food additives, which requires companies to present research confirming their safety to the FDA before the additives can be used. With GE foods, the FDA merely suggests ways firms might conduct research and lets them consult with the agency if they wish. This is far too lax for a new technology that can insert genes, not present naturally, into foods. We will continue to press for better government oversight and mandatory labeling.

All of us want the ability to make decisions based on the facts. But it's hard to know what the facts are if they aren't backed up with substantive research and spelled out--clearly, consistently, and verifiably--on the label.