A rotulagem dos alimentos transgênicos e o direito do consumidor à informação

Abstract

The controversy over transgenic foods is vast. Several questions are raised and humanity is not yet ready to respond, as advances in biotechnology, such as genetic manipulation, are leaving the legal standards equidistant from this new world that is announced. Because they have their genetic makeup modified in the laboratory, the use of transgenic foods still requires scientific deepening to analyze the impact it would have on the environment and the effects on human health and even its use in the fight against hunger. The dimension that the problem is assuming around the world indicates that also in Brazil one must fight for ethical aspects to be preserved and for the legislation to accompany scientific advances. The Federal Constitution of 1988 ensures the preservation of the ecologically balanced environment and the preservation of the diversity and integrity of the country's genetic heritage. In this way, the labeling of genetically modified food must indicate to the consumer, in addition to the handling instructions, the storage of the product and other information concerning the nutritional field, the information that it has been produced from genetically modified organisms, requirement given by Brazilian legislation, in particular Law 11.105 / 2005, also called the Biosafety Law, in addition to considerations contained in the Consumer Defense Code. The methodology used in this work is theoretical in the bibliographical, jurisprudential and legislative forms and the method chosen is the comparative history, once the evolution of transgenic foods and the different doctrinal opinions are reported. Hence, the importance of using legislation and jurisprudence that refers to issues involving transgenic foods, bioethics and bioethics, so that the new agricultural frontier can be applied and interpreted. The importance of the information contained in the labeling is not intended to attest to the safety of the product, but to ensure the consumer protection of the constitutional right to information.