21.  Many opponents of bioengineered foods do not object to the technique because it avoids artificially transferring genes from one organism to another.

22.  Meanwhile, public concern has begun to grow, and the Food and Drug Administration has begun a series of public hearings on the safety of bioengineered foods.

23.  Neither condition is true with the present generation of bioengineered foods.

24.  On the bioengineered food front, a blue-ribbon panel of US and European experts issued a report this month endorsing the principle of informed choice by consumers.

25.  So a recently released international report that recommends mandatory labeling and testing of bioengineered foods stands in contrast to current Food and Drug Administration regulations.

26.  Some European officials say privately that the reaction to bioengineered foods on their shores has gotten out of hand.

27.  Such mistakes have made some growers and processors pull back from using bioengineered foods.

28.  The discovery of an unapproved variety of genetically engineered corn in a brand of store-bought taco shells is prompting new calls for the labeling of bioengineered foods.

29.  The FDA said henceforth it would require pre-market reviews of bioengineered foods.

30.  The issue in Congress will be whether to require labeling of bioengineered foods, while the FDA will be asked to give greater scrutiny to gene-altered food.