Report Urges Greater Scrutiny Over Genetically Altered Food
All genetically modified foods should be subject to greater scrutiny, rather than singling out products created by genetic engineering techniques, according to a report released Wednesday by a U.S. scientific advisory committee.
Only genetically engineered products -- foods implanted with genes from another organism -- are subject to an extra layer of safety testing before reaching consumers. Foods modified by other methods, such as conventional cross-breeding techniques, are not.
Any time scientists alter a molecule’s genetic composition, they risk sparking unplanned changes to its DNA. That, in turn, “has the potential to create unintended changes in the quality or amounts of food components that could harm health,” said committee chairwoman Bettie Sue Masters, a biochemistry professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
The report was commissioned to advise the Food and Drug Administration, the Agriculture Department and the Environmental Protection Agency on how to test genetically modified foods for safety.
“It’s like focusing all your attention on canned peas, rather than frozen peas,” said Jennifer Hillard, a volunteer at the Ontario-based Consumer Interest Alliance and the only consumer advocate on the committee.
“The idea is, ‘Are the peas safe?’ Why are we focusing all the attention on the one technology, and letting all the other technologies slip through?”
Consumer advocates charged that the report, the last in a series on food safety from the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine, sidestepped some of the more contentious issues and revived a decades-old debate over which products federal agencies should flag for safety testing.
They expressed concern that a broader scope for testing would distract attention and resources from the products scientists know the least about and are the most likely to be dangerous to consumers.
“They have muddled the picture of genetic engineering by bringing in these other techniques which, for the most part, have been safe,” said Jane Rissler, deputy director of the Union of Concerned Scientists.
“There is far more uncertainty about genetically engineered foods,” she said.
