Group wants modfied foods to carry labels

WASHINGTON, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- A group says it will petition the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to require genetically engineered foods to carry a label identifying them as such.

The Just Label It coalition of 300 companies, organizations and doctors said labeling is mandatory in the European Union, Russia, Japan and even China but that food makers in the United States are not required to tell consumers they're eating modified products, USA Today reported Monday.

"This is about the consumer's right to transparency," said Gary Hirshberg, CEO of Stonyfield Farm and a member of the coalition. "People deserve the right to know what they're eating."

But many in the food industry say there's no need for labeling.

"Anyone who has ever studied the issue has come to the conclusion that there are no health issues here," Biotechnology Industry Organization CEO Jim Greenwood said. "Unless the scientists have stopped being scientific, this will be rejected."

The FDA, for its part, "has not found that foods from genetically engineered organisms, as a class, present different or greater safety concerns than their conventional counterparts," agency spokeswoman Tamara Ward said.