BioCentury
ARTICLE | Politics, Policy & Law

Reaping what they sow

May 12, 1997 7:00 AM UTC

WASHINGTON - The Novel Foods Directive will come into force next week in the European Union, establishing dramatically different policies for labeling biotechnology agricultural products in Europe and the U.S.

After May 14, any new food product marketed in Europe containing genetically modified organisms must be labeled if the chemical composition of the product is not equivalent to that of conventional food. Thus, a food containing a plant that was produced through genetic engineering but which is indistinguishable from its conventionally produced relative, will not have to be labeled. If a product, however, contains a protein from another organism, it will have to be labeled...