Months after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the nation’s first genetically modified (GM) salmon for human consumption, the agency has issued a ban on the import and sale of the fish until health regulators can publish guidelines for how it should be labeled. [1]
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced that it will withdraw its approval for 3 chemicals used to make grease, stain, and water-repelling food packaging. The agency is also considering banning 8 other food additives used in both “artificial” and “natural” flavors. Is the agency finally going to hold food companies accountable for the use of toxic ingredients?
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has banned 3 carcinogenic chemicals found in pizza boxes, popcorn bags, and other food packaging.
Environmental and public health groups have spoken out against the use of the chemicals for years over concerns of “chemical migration” from packaging to food, but it took 9 petitions to convince the FDA to ban the chemicals in question – perfluorinated compounds, or PFCs.
The number of countries saying NO to GMOs is growing as more nations express their desire to protect their territories from biotech’s greedy hands. In a meeting held in Bern, Switzerland on December 18th, 2015, the Swiss Federal Council decided to extend the country’s moratorium on the cultivation of GM seed until at least 2021. [1]
The Philippines Supreme Court permanently halted the field testing for genetically modified eggplant, Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis), upholding the decision of the Court of Appeals (CA) which stopped the field trials for the GM plant.
Not only did the High Court deny the petition to continue cultivation of the GM eggplant, but the appeals court’s May 2013 decision was also amended.
In the US we are still swimming from the FDA’s approval of GM salmon, while across the world, member states of the EU, Hungary, and Austria team up to make sure genetically modified food isn’t getting into their countries.
Hungary Today reports:
Opponents of growing genetically modified corn in Mexico, the country known for over 30 varieties of non-GM maize, have prevailed. A federal judge upheld a GM ban that was put in place years ago.
Mexico is known for its biodiversity, which supports numerous varieties of maize. It is in fact considered their birthplace, and if GM corn had not been banned, corn developed over thousands of years would be in jeopardy of cross-pollination.
Jackson County, Oregon was already successful in banning genetically modified foods (known as GMOs) even though Big Ag tried to fight the democratic vote. Now another Oregon County is following suit.
Stating a concern that the proposed law would lead to the reintroduction of border controls between GM and non-GMO-growing countries, the European Parliament news service reported that Members of the Environment Committee shot down a draft EU law that would allow member states to restrict or prohibit sales of genetically modified crops.
The Welsh Deputy Minister for Farming and Food, Rebecca Evans, has announced that the country will take advantage of new EU rules allowing countries to opt out of growing EU-authorized GM crops. Yep – Wales is moving forward with a complete ban on biotech’s seed! [1]
Evans says that the nation plans to ban GM corn as well as 7 other GM crops authorized by the EU. She states:
