(OTTAWA) The Council of Canadians and the Sierra Club of Canada are calling on the federal government to stop talking and start labeling genetically engineered foods.

Today, CBC Radio News reported that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors are considering standards for labeling genetically engineered foods.

"Canadians have said clearly that they want and expect all of these foods to be labeled. So what are we waiting for?" said Lucy Sharratt, co-ordinator of the Sierra Club’s "Safe Food, Sustainable Agriculture" campaign.

Opinion polls taken in the past few years indicate that over 90% of Canadians believe genetically engineered foods should be labeled. In 1994, Industry Canada commissioned an Optima poll that showed that 95% wanted labeling. A 1997 Ekos poll showed similar results. More recently, a Prairie Research Associates poll released last month showed 92% of Manitobans want labeling (77% of respondents believe these foods are unsafe or are unsure of their safety).

"Mandatory labeling is the only way a shopper will know immediately which foods are genetically engineered and which ones are not. We’re ready to work with the government to meet this urgent consumer demand," said Jennifer Story, Health Protection Campaigner with the Council of Canadians.

A recent issue of The Economist reported that almost half of Americans don’t even know that some of the food already in grocery stores is genetically engineered.

The Sierra Club and the Council are calling on the Canadian government to work quickly to establish mandatory labeling rules. This step is particularly pressing in light of growing public concern with the weaknesses in the food testing divisions of both Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and emerging scientific evidence of human health and environmental risks.