USANews版 - Obama Agency: Pepsi Using Aborted Fetal Cells is Ordinary Business |
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发帖数: 29846 | 1 PepsiCo has come under fire from pro-life advocates because it has been
contracting with a research firm that uses fetal cells from babies
victimized by abortions to test and produce artificial flavor enhancers.
Now, the Obama administration is set to face more criticism because an
agency has declared that Pepsi’s use of the company and its controversial
flavor testing process constitutes “ordinary business.”
In a decision delivered February 28, the Security and Exchange Commission
ruled that PepsiCo’s use of aborted fetal remains in their research and
development agreement with Senomyx to produce flavor enhancers falls under
“ordinary business operations.”
Debi Vinnedge, Executive Director of Children of God for Life, the
organization that exposed the PepsiCo- Senomyx collaboration last year,
informed LifeNews today that a letter signed by Attorney Brian Pitko of the
SEC Office of Chief Counsel was sent in response to a 36-page document
submitted by PepsiCo attorneys in January 2012. In that filing, PepsiCo
pleaded with the SEC to reject a Shareholder’s Resolution filed in October
2011 that the company “adopt a corporate policy that recognizes human
rights and employs ethical standards which do not involve using the remains
of aborted human beings in both private and collaborative research and
development agreements.”
PepsiCo lead attorney George A. Schieren noted that the resolution should be
excluded because it “deals with matters related to the company’s ordinary
business operations” and that “certain tasks are so fundamental to run a
company on a day-to-day basis that they could not be subject to stockholder
oversight.”
Vinnedge said she is appalled by the apathy and insensitivity of both
PepsiCo executives and the Obama administration.
“We’re not talking about what kind of pencils PepsiCo wants to use – we
are talking about exploiting the remains of an aborted child for profit,”
she said. “Using human embryonic kidney (HEK-293) to produce flavor
enhancers for their beverages is a far cry from routine operations
Vinnedge said PepsiCo also requested the resolution be excluded because it
“probed too deeply into matters of a complex nature upon which shareholders
cannot make an informed judgment.”
“In other words, PepsiCo thinks its stockholders are too stupid to
understand what they are doing with the remains of aborted children,” she
said. “Well they are about to find out just how smart the public really is
when they turn up the heat on the world-wide boycott.”
Vinnedge is warning consumers to be on guard for the roll-out of PepsiCo’s
newest beverage that claims to cut sugar and calories by 50%. The product
is called Pepsi Next and is anticipated to hit the market in the coming
weeks. Since PepsiCo stated that their goal with Senomyx is to produce new
beverages with reduced sugars and calories, she wonders if Pepsi Next is the
new Senomyx-PepsiCo creation?
“While fetal components are currently not in the final product, there is
growing concern among consumers that it could happen in the near future.
With the explosion of health foods on the market, there is nothing to stop
companies from using fetal remains as protein ingredients,” she told
LifeNews. “Impossible, you say? Actually because of GRAS rules (Generally
Accepted as Safe) it might not even trigger FDA oversight. And that has
consumers plenty worried about just what might be “next” from the industry
.”
She says the latest development makes Oklahoma Senator Ralph Shortey’s
SB1418 banning the sale of products that are developed with or contain
aborted fetal remains critically important for consumer protection.
“We commend the Senator for his courageous move,” noted Vinnedge. “The
public is already saying no thanks to all Pepsi beverages and Pepsi Next is
just that – the “next” product to avoid.”
As recently as May, Pepsi ignored concerns and criticism from dozens of pro-
life groups and tens of thousands of pro-life people who voiced their
opposition to PepsiCo contracting with biotech company Senomyx even after it
was found to be testing their food additives using fetal cells from
abortions.
“The company’s key flavor programs focus on the discovery and development
of savory, sweet and salt flavor ingredients that are intended to allow for
the reduction of MSG, sugar and salt in food and beverage products,” the
Senomyx web site says. “Using isolated human taste receptors, we created
proprietary taste receptor-based assay systems that provide a biochemical or
electronic readout when a flavor ingredient interacts with the receptor.”
Vinnedge explained, “What they don’t tell the public is that they are
using HEK 293 – human embryonic kidney cells taken from an electively
aborted baby to produce those receptors. They could have easily chosen
animal, insect, or other morally obtained human cells expressing the G
protein for taste receptors.”
ACTION: Contact these companies…
Jamie Caulfield, Sr. VP
PepsiCo, Inc.
700 Anderson Hill Road
Purchase, NY 10577
(914) 253-2000
Email form: http://cr.pepsi.com/usen/pepsiusen.cfm?time=5189878 |
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