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ALLIANCE FOR BIO-INTEGRITY

 

The Alliance for Bio-Integrity is a nonprofit, nonpolitical organization dedicated to the advancement of human and environmental health through sustainable and safe technologies. To this end, it aims (a) to inform the public about technologies and practices that negatively impact on health and the environment and (b) to inspire broad-based, responsible action that helps correct the problems and uphold the integrity of the natural order. In approaching these issues, it integrates the perspectives of both science and religion and coordinates the participation of both communities.

The Alliance's initial project is to gain a more rational and prudent policy on genetically engineered foods. This entails (a) educating the public about the unprecedented dangers to the environment and human health posed by the massive enterprise to genetically reprogram the world's food supply; (b) securing a scientifically sound system for safety-testing genetically altered foods; and (c) securing a meaningful system of labeling in order to protect the right of consumers to avoid such foods.

Achieving the latter two objectives requires an action at law, since current U.S. Food and Drug Administration policy exempts genetically altered foods from the testing required of new food additives and also permits these foods to be marketed without identifying labels. Although respected groups such as Consumers Union, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and the Environmental Defense Fund have strongly criticized this policy as scientifically flawed and unsound in several other respects as well, the FDA staunchly refuses to revise it. Accordingly, the Alliance has organized an unprecedented plaintiff group to bring a lawsuit against the FDA to effect the necessary changes. The plaintiffs include eminent scientists, public interest organizations, and people from diverse faiths who reject genetically altered foods on the basis of religious principle. The suit was filed May 27, 1998 in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. and is being managed by the legal department of the International Center for Technology Assessment in Washington, which shares the Alliance's concerns about genetic engineering and has an impressive record in public interest litigation.