Gregory Jaffe, a director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, will speak at Iowa State University on Tuesday, November 1. His talk, "Genetically Engineered Foods: The Naked Truth," will be at 6 p.m. in the Memorial Union South Ballroom. This presentation is a lecture that is part of the university's National Affairs Series and is free and open to the public.

A recognized expert on the U.S. regulatory structure for agricultural biotechnology and related consumer issues, Jaffe is director of the Project on Biotechnology for CSPI, an advocacy and educational organization that focuses on nutrition and health, food safety, alcohol policy and sound science. CSPI is known for spearheading passage of the federal law to create the "Nutrition Facts" label that set the standards for nutrition and health claims on food labels.

In his talk at Iowa State, Jaffe will probe the heated rhetoric and discourse about the benefits and risks of genetically engineered foods, providing a consumer perspective on the controversial topic. He will offer insights into the challenges and issues facing this technology in the future. And Jaffe will critique the U.S. regulatory system, and provide an international perspective of how the technology is spreading around the world. Foods that contain genetically modified (GM) ingredients continue to be a topic of discussion, especially in a number of European countries which have continued their import ban on corn, soybeans and other crops that have genetically modified traits.

Jaffe will probe the heated discussion of risks and benefits of GM foods

Jaffe joined the staff at CSPI after a distinguished career in government service. He was a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice's Environmental and Natural Resources Division, and a senior counsel for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Air Enforcement Division. EPA awarded him a bronze medal for commendable service, a special achievement award and a gold medal for performance.

Jaffe has published articles on agricultural biotechnology in the Christian Science Monitor, the Food and Drug Law Institute's Update magazine and the Environmental Law Institute's Environmental Forum magazine. He earned his bachelor's degree in biology from Wesleyan University and his law degree from Harvard University. CSPI is funded primarily by subscriptions to its award-winning Nutrition Action Healthletter. With 900,000 subscribers in the U.S. and Canada, it is the largest circulation health newsletter in North America.

Cosponsors for Jaffe's lecture are ISU's Biosafety Institute for Genetically Modified Agricultural Products at the ISU Seed Science Center, along with ISU's Live Green! Sustainability Series, the ISU National Affairs Committee and the University Committee on Lectures (which is funded by the Government of the Student Body). More information on ISU lectures is available at www.lectures.iastate.edu or by calling 515-294-9935.