Empire State Council of Agricultural Organizations Opposes Mandatory GMO Labeling

On 11, Feb 2014 | In Blog, Featured | By admin

For Immediate Release
February 11, 2014

Contact:
Rick Zimmerman
518-727-8156
rzimmerman@zga-llc.com

Empire State Council of Agricultural Organizations Opposes Mandatory GMO Labeling

Statewide coalition says bill would negatively impact farmers, retailers, consumers

(Albany, N.Y.) Members of the Empire State Council of Agricultural Organizations (CAO) today released a Memorandum of Opposition to S3835A/A3525A—‘Legislation Mandating Labeling of Food Derived from Genetically Engineered Crops’. If passed, the proposed legislation would impart unnecessary and costly burdens on farmers, food manufacturers and producers and ultimately consumers across the state.
The Coalition is calling on members of the Consumer Affairs and Protection Committee to vote down this legislation.

Genetic modification has been part of our food system for centuries. Hundreds of studies from around the world have proven that genetically engineered foods are as safe as those not genetically engineered and these studies have been endorsed by groups like the World Health Organization, the Food and Drug Administration, and the American Medical Association.

“This legislation will increase food costs for consumers, potentially limit the availability of certain foods in the marketplace, and cost tax payers millions of dollars in implementation and enforcement,” said Jeff Williams, CAO Chairman. “Consumers already have a choice in the food market. Organic foods do not contain GMOs and are often labeled as GMO Free.”

Members of the coalition will be in Albany on Tuesday to discuss the risks of passing such legislation with lawmakers as part of the organization’s lobby day and will be available to speak to the media.

About The Empire State Council Of Agricultural Organizations:
The Empire State Council of Agricultural Organizations is an association of more than two dozen agricultural groups representing the majority of production and agribusiness organizations in New York State.

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Defense, and SAb Biotherapeutics to Partner to Develop a Novel COVID-19 Therapeutic

April 6, 2020 by admin

Published by Medical Counter Measures

A therapeutic to treat novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is moving forward in development through a partnership between BARDA, the Department of Defense Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Defense (JPEO – CBRND), and SAb Biotherapeutics, Inc. (SAb), of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Using an interagency agreement with JPEO’s Medical CBRN Defense Consortium, BARDA transferred approximately $7.2 million in funding to (JPEO – CBRND) to support SAb to complete manufacturing and preclinical studies, with an option to conduct a Phase 1 clinical trial.

Read the full press release here.

Agri-Pulse: Can cows be used to fight coronavirus?

March 30, 2020 by admin

Bovine plasma donors genetically engineered to produce human antibodies are in the front lines of the struggle against coronavirus.

SAB Biotherapeutics, a Sioux Falls, S.D., biotechnology company that has been successfully testing use of antibodies from cows to fight diseases such as another coronavirus, Middle East respiratory syndrome, now is engaged in developing a treatment for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Read the full article here.

Times Argus: High-tech chestnuts: US to consider genetically altered tree

November 7, 2019 by admin

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — Chestnuts harvested from high branches on a chilly fall morning look typical: they’re marble sized, russet colored and nestled in prickly burs. But many are like no other nuts in nature.

In a feat of genetic engineering, about half the chestnuts collected at this college experiment station feature a gene that provides resistance to blight that virtually wiped out the American chestnut tree generations ago.

Read more here.