OnHealth Rage Against Genetically Altered Foods

[Guest guest]

March 29, 2000

Rage Against Genetically Altered Foods

By Katrina Woznicki

You're pushing your cart down the grocery aisle and you stop to pick up a

bag of chips. It looks like any other bag of chips you've purchased, but how

do you know if these chips contain genes extracted from other living things

you normally wouldn't even think of eating?

You don't -- and that's where much of the controversy over genetically

engineered food begins.

This week, the controversy has hit Boston where 8,000 scientists,

biotech industry experts and business leaders have gathered for the nation's

largest biotechnology meeting, the BIO 2000 Conference, sponsored by the

Biotechnology Industry Organization. The meeting also has attracted some

2,500 demonstrators, many dressed in huge " killer tomato " costumes. These

protesters claim bio-engineered foods are unsafe and that the interest in

them is driven by corporate profits.

Some food companies are taking action to avoid such protests and

possible consumer backlash. In February, Frito-Lay Inc., owned by Pepsico,

announced it would quit buying genetically modified corn. The decision by

the maker of Tostitos, Doritos and Fritos thrilled environmentalists and

angered farmers. Putze, a spokesman for the Iowa Farm Bureau

Federation in West Des Moines, says the " alarms sounded, absent of any fact,

have helped fuel this fear of genetically enhanced organisms. There are some

farmers who feel that sound science is not being allowed to be the decision

maker in disputes such as this. "

Along similar lines, baby food giant Gerber announced last year that

it would stop using ingredients from genetically engineered crops. While the

company believes science has shown that genetically engineered ingredients

are safe, says Sheldon , vice president of communications, " We just

decided to remove Gerber from the debate. "

The Goal of Genetically Altered Crops

Much of America's corn, soybean and cotton crops are genetically altered.

That means scientists and farmers injected genes from other organisms into

these plants to produce the best possible corn, soybean or cotton crops. The

goal of genetic engineering is to create hardier plants with boosted

nutritional content, which can then reduce disease in humans. For example,

some genetically altered rice contains more vitamins that can improve

overall health.

Still, scientists, farmers and food companies face a skeptical public

that questions whether we should be splicing genes in the first place, and

also whether it's safe to put such engineered products on the dinner table.

" Most consumers, I think, are concerned about any potential health

issues or safety issues associated with genetic engineered foods, "

Goldburg, senior scientist at Environmental Defense in New York City, tells

OnHealth. Goldburg testified last November in a hearing held by the U.S.

Food and Drug Administration on bioengineered foods.

Also speaking at that meeting was F. son, executive

director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer

watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. " Genetic engineering, " sen

says, " is a powerful technology. Used properly, it could greatly benefit

farmers, consumers and the environment. It holds out the promise of

increased yields, reduced use of pesticides and greater nutrition. But, if

misused, it could cause great harm. " He goes on to say, " Most consumers know

little about biotechnology. "

Goldburg agrees, saying consumers have been left in the dark on this

issue. " Current FDA policy provides no information to consumers, " she says,

and the biotech food industry isn't providing information through

promotional advertisements to consumers, either.

According to Dean Denna Penna, a plant biologist and professor at the

University of Nevada in Reno, information about the benefits of

bioengineered foods hasn't reached consumers and may explain why they're so

wary of this technology. " The consumer doesn't see the direct benefit, "

Denna Penna says, " but certainly genetically-engineered foods can be labeled

now as 'with less pesticides and less herbicides.' That's good for our food

because we don't have as much residue of these (pesticide and herbicide)

compounds. "

Worldwide Concern

Just this February, delegates from 130 countries addressed some of these

concerns at a meeting in Montreal. They hammered out a treaty that allows

nations to reject genetically modified organisms, or GMOs as they're known,

as long as they have scientific reasoning to do so. Negotiations were

intense and the situation was contentious outside as hundreds of protesters

gathered to speak out against biotechnological foods being forced on them.

Protesters even carted around a giant ear of corn eating a butterfly. That

image referred to research from Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. that

genetically altering corn to produce its own pesticide inadvertently harmed

the Monarch butterfly.

Protesters around the world are demanding that the biotech industry

label products containing GMOs. That means a consumer purchasing a bag of

chips could tell by the label whether the corn used in those chips was

genetically engineered. But GMO labeling has yet to happen and Goldburg says

consumer concerns are being " swept under the rug in the rush to develop

biotechnology. "

Peggy Lemaux, a scientist at the University of California at Berkeley,

doesn't see it that way. She says consumers don't yet realize the benefits

they could reap from bioengineered foods because the biotech industry hasn't

created products that help the consumer, but instead they have " been

designed to help the farmer, " such as genetically altering corn so it

creates its own pesticide.

" It's the unknown, " that scares people, Lemaux says.

One of the most recent examples of genetically engineered food is rice

with higher levels of vitamin A, created by researchers using genes from a

daffodil and bacteria. The technique is being taught around the world with

the hope that rice with boosted nutritional value will stave off illness in

developing countries. " People are beginning more and more to view foods as a

way to improve health, " Lemaux says, " and by using genetic engineering, we

can do all kinds of things like boosting vitamin content, removing allergens

and taking caffeine out of coffee in a natural way. "

Closer to home, scientists have taken genes from fish and added them

to strawberries with the intent of making strawberries tolerate freezing

better. The same thing has been done to tomatoes, although these products

are only in the laboratory testing stage. Margulis, a spokesman for

Greenpeace, says such foods are " science fiction. "

According to Margulis, two-thirds of Americans aren't even aware

they're eating foods from genetically engineered crops. " Americans need to

know the FDA isn't being honest with them on this issue. The other thing

Americans need to know is that foods companies aren't being honest with

them. "

But Denna Penna points out that " millions of tons of genetic

engineered foods have been consumed and there's not one documented case of a

serious health problem. "

While Americans question what's going into their foods, Europeans are

loudly fighting to block GMO products from seeping into their countries.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, a close ally of the United States who

once claimed he would gladly eat bioengineered food, did an about-face the

night before a meeting on GMO products in Edinburgh, Scotland in late

February. Blair told the The Independent, a British newspaper, that there

was " cause for legitimate public concern. " He added, " There's no doubt that

there is a potential for harm, both in terms of human safety and in the

diversity of our environment, from GM food and crops. " Critics charge that

Blair did not base his statement on scientific evidence and is simply

yielding to public opinion.

The U.S. Congress has taken up the debate with two bills. A bill

introduced in November by Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, and another

introduced Feb. 22 by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., call for the labeling of

genetically engineered foods.

Anything that's genetically modified doesn't sound very tasty and may

make organic foods look more appealing, Lemaux says. Despite consumers'

wariness and companies' fear of losing those wary consumers, Lemaux says

biotechnology is going to become the way of the future, like it or not.

Within a decade, she predicts, bioengineering is going to move on from

soybean, corn and cotton and " pervade agricultural. "

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