WASHINGTON -- November 29 -- As Americans get ready for Thanksgiving meals around the country, the Food and Drug Administration has acknowledged that contamination of the food supply by genetically engineered crops is inevitable, but its new proposed guidance to the industry does little to protect consumers. The FDA draft guidance published today in the Federal Register simply encourages producers of new genetically engineered crops to voluntarily consult with the agency earlier in the process of development.

Simply encouraging a developer of a genetically engineered crop to voluntarily consult with the agency a little earlier in the process does nothing to address the fact that genetically engineered crops that are field-tested in the open will inevitably contaminate conventional and organic food crops through wind and insect dispersal of pollen. The FDA continues to offer ineffective solutions to the serious risks that agricultural biotechnology poses to the safety of our food supply.

The voluntary nature of the draft guidance is a significant problem that permeates FDA oversight of genetically engineered foods overall. In the notice, the FDA admits that many producers will indeed determine, on their own, that they need not follow the guidance and will not consult with the FDA. Furthermore, the draft guidance will likely result in a decrease in FDA safety consultations that come closer to commercialization of genetically engineered crops.

This type of administrative response is like encouraging a child to talk about the eggs he plans to drop off the roof of a 20-floor building on unsuspecting pedestrians before he drops them. The FDA should get serious about protecting our food supply because the American consumer is depending on it.

U.S. PIRG is the national advocacy office for the state Public Interest Research Groups. State PIRGs are non-partisan, non-profit public interest advocacy organizations.

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