QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Young, A. L. Articles by Asner, M. R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Young, A. L. Articles by Asner, M. R.

A Government Agency's Responsibility to the Consumer¹

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC 20250-0904

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Office of Agricultural Biotechnology developed a proactive stance for informing consumers about biotechnology in 1987. Using a variety of information vehicles, the Office of Agricultural Biotechnology has developed a dialogue with various groups having different and sometimes very strident opinions about the use of genetic engineering in plants and animals. At the same time, the government agency has fulfilled its mandate to neither promote nor discourage the use of biotechnology methods in research, but rather to present the data and thus allow consumers to make an informed decision.

KEY WORDS: • government • biotechnology • agriculture • consumer

¹ Presented as part of the Symposium: "Consumer Issues in Biotechnology: Genetically Engineered Foods" given at the Experimental Biology '95 meeting, Atlanta, GA, on April 10, 1995. This symposium was sponsored by the American Institute of Nutrition, American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Center for Food and Nutrition Policy, Georgetown University and the Office of Agricultural Biotechnology, U.S. Department of Agriculture. Guest editor for the symposium publication was John D. Fernstrom, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA.

² To whom correspondence should be addressed: Office of Agricultural Biotechnology, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Room 3868-South Building, 14th and Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250-0904.