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Beyond Food and EvilLabeling and the Mindscape of American Agricultural Policy
Jim ChenDean and Professor of LawUniversity of Louisville
The Law and Policy of a Sustainable Food SystemLouisville Bar Association, Environmental Law SectionAugust 17, 2010
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rDNA technologies, regulatory concerns, labeling
• rDNA technologies deployed in agriculture
• Regulatory concerns: food safety, ecology, economy
• Laws governing food containing GMOs
• Beyond food and evil: The limits of organic labeling as a basis for a comprehensive GMO policy
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rDNA technologies
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rDNA technologies in agriculture• Enrichment or fortification: golden rice
• Accelerated production:– rbST in milk production– GM salmon: Chinook growth gene + ocean
pout trigger = year-round feeding schedule. Cf. Ex parte Allen (polyploid oysters)
• Herbicide resistance: “Roundup-ready”
• Pesticidal properties: Bt corn
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Regulatory concerns
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Regulatory concerns• Lack of fitness for human consumption
– Adulteration: general population. Starlink– Genetic source: specific, sensitive population
• Biological breakouts– Hybridization with wild relatives. GM canola– “Super salmon” outcompete wild relatives– Smaller organisms, faster evolutionary clock
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Regulatory concerns, continued• Resistance in target organisms
– Bt-resistant insects– Cf. glyphosate resistance and the impact of
nontherapeutic antibiotic use on human health
• Unintended harm to nontarget organisms– Bt’s impact on all Lepidoptera (monarch)– Cf. bee colony collapse and bioaccumulation
• Economic injury to nonadopting farmers
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Laws regulating GMO use
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Laws governing GMO use• National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
– Useless against alleged economic injury– USDA approvals of GM canola, beets, alfalfa
• Endangered Species Act (ESA)– Nontarget organisms and biological breakouts
• Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&CA)
• Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA)
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Labeling rules under the FD&CA and OFPA
• FD&CA §§ 402(a)(1), 409: adulteration– Outright bans and targeted labeling
• FD&CA §§ 201(n), 403(a)(1): misbranding
• New Plant Varieties (1992)– GRAS under §§ 201(s), 409– No across-the-board labeling requirement
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Labeling rules, continued• Premarket Biotechology Notices and
Voluntary Labeling Guidance (2001)– GM foods are presumptively marketable after
completion of the PBN process– Labels disclosing GMOs are not required– “GM/biotech free” labels need disclaimers
• OFPA: The organic label has become the de facto signal of non-GMO status
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The limits of labeling
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The limits of labeling as GMO regulation
• The OFPA lacks the FD&CA’s consumer protection mandate– FD&CA patrols adulteration and misbranding– “Organic” makes no claims regarding the
intrinsic safety or value of food. Nor could it.
• Often the right answer is an outright ban or a production-level limit, not a label
• Little or no impact on farm size or structure
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Beyond food and evil
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Beyond food and evil• Behavioral psychology and the mindscape
of American agricultural policy– Labeling puts all the weight of profound policy
decisions on consumer-level choices– Food choices are notoriously irrational
• Sweet and greasy foods naturally appeal• Every child knows that finicky eaters survive
• Law, science, and safety in the balance