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I am writing to request that you provide more media coverage of the controversy over genetically engineered foods. I would appreciate it if you would make more of an effort to educate people about this crucial issue.

Many scientists have significant concerns about the environmental and health risks associated with genetically engineered foods. For example, the British Medical Association has called for a ban on genetically engineered crops because they contain antibiotic resistant marker genes. Do the British doctors know something that American doctors have overlooked?

In Europe genetically engineered foods are required to be labeled and very few people want to purchase them. Legislation requiring the labeling of genetically engineered foods has also been passed into law in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, and many other countries.

Here in the United States, government supervision has been minimal, and biotech companies have been able to flood the market with genetically altered foods. Already, two-thirds of the foods on American supermarket shelves are genetically modified, or contain genetically modified ingredients. Yet, public opinion polls reveal that more than 80% of Americans want genetically engineered foods to be labeled.

You no doubt heard about the recall of over 300 processed food products that contain corn when it was discovered that genetically engineered StarLink corn never approved for human consumption had contaminated these human food products.

The possible allergenic property of StarLink corn was discovered by the EPA when they were reviewing the corn product because it contains a built-in pesticide. But the allergenic property of StarLink corn totally escaped the scrutiny of the FDA, the agency that is suppose to be regulating the health aspects of genetically engineered foods.

I’m sure you realize that there are few things as important as the food we eat. You would be doing a great service to probe these issues deeply, and help make sure these genetically engineered foods are as safe as the biotech companies claim.