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Sample comment letter. Intended to be printed on letterhead, hence the reference in the tag paragraph to "the address above".
Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305)
Food and Drug Administration
5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061
Rockville, MD, 20852-0003
Docket Number: 2003N-0573
Date: January 1, 2007
To Whom It May Concern:
Thank you for this opportunity to present my comments with regard to Docket 2003N-0573, concerning the proposed Draft Guidelines for Industry regarding cloned animals as a food source, issued by your agency on December 28, 2006.
Regardless of the fact that the flesh of cloned animals or plants may indeed appear to be, given today's scientific capabilities, identical on a molecular level to animals that have not come to be through cloning, I respectfully submit to you that this irrelevant to the issue at hand. The issue is whether or not industry would be required to label meats and other foods who have come to be by way of cloning as having such an origin.
All consumers have the right to be fully informed about the items they put into their bodies, before they consume said items. Should we allow industry to refrain from labeling foodstuffs which contain cloned items, consumers who decide for whatever reason that they don't wish to consume cloned foodstuffs (as well as those who decide that they would prefer a diet consisting entirely of cloned foodstuffs) will be unable to execute their decision as a result of lack of information. We already require that nutritional labels be placed onto foodstuffs for this very reason.
For these reasons, I urge you to revise the Draft Guidelines to include a requirement that all meats and other foods that are made up - in whole or in part ? of cloned items; be required to display a label indicating this fact as well as the origin of the cloned ingredients and the quantity of such ingredients contained. Additionally, I urge you to provide for stiff penalties to include plant closure and fines for willful failure or refusal to comply with the revised guidelines.
If there are any questions about my comments, please feel free to contact me anytime via telephone at (Phone Here) or by mail at the address above.
Sincerely yours,
(Name Here)
Purchaser and Consumer of Food
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