Editorials / Opinion

Seattle Times letters to the editor

Consumers deserve transparency

Anybody familiar with the way our pharmaceutical system works or the “GRAS” (generally recognized as safe) standard understands that big money players (big agriculture, big Pharma, etc.) have an enormous financial stake in keeping their products on the market, sometimes despite limited or sketchy research of efficacy or safety [“I-522: a test of what you believe about genetically modified foods,” Opinion, March 13].

I don’t want my government or a Monsanto lobbyist deciding for me what they believe is safe. I want to make that informed decision myself, and I do have a right to know that the high-fructose corn syrup in the soda on the grocery shelf was derived from corn that was genetically altered to withstand being doused with pesticides like Roundup.

GMOs have been developed and used in the U.S. pretty much out of the public view, but consumers like me are now demanding transparency and that is why I am supporting Initiative 522. There is an argument going on around the world about the safety of GMOs and very intelligent communities — the EU, for example — have rejected GMOs.

–Judy Neldam, Duvall