USDA: Stop the approval of the dangerous GMO apple

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Peter Stocker" <moveon-help@list.moveon.org>
Date: Dec 13, 2013 12:01 PM
Subject: USDA: Stop the approval of the dangerous GMO apple
To: "Daniel A. Stafford" <aquarianm@gmail.com>
Cc:

Dear MoveOn member,

I'm Peter Stocker of the organization Friends of the Earth, and I started a petition to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which says:

USDA: Do not approve the genetically engineered Arctic Apple. 

If approved, unlabeled genetically engineered apples could contaminate conventional and organic foods including fruit slices, juice, baby foods, and applesauce—products predominantly consumed by children and babies, who are at increased risk for any adverse health effects. 

GMO apples may contaminate nearby organic and conventional apple orchards and could potentially cause valuable export markets to reject U.S.-grown apples, as has happened in the past when wheat and rice crops were found to be contaminated by GMOs. 

This product is unnecessary and poses numerous risks to apple growers, the food industry, and consumers. The USDA should not approve this genetically engineered apple.

The USDA is poised to approve the first genetically engineered apple. If approved, these "Arctic Apples" could end up everywhere from school lunches to grocery stores, posing risks to our health and our environment.

Like other GMOs, it won't be labeled and will not have undergone independent safety testing—regulators will rely on the company's sole assessment that the apple is safe for human consumption. 

Worse yet, this GMO apple was genetically engineered via a new, virtually untested experimental technique called RNA interference, which many scientists are concerned may have negative, unintended impacts on human health and the environment. 

We need your help today. Tell the USDA to say no to GMO apples. 

Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.

Thanks!

–Peter Stocker

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