The risks of genetically modified crops

Food regulatory authorities require that GM foods receive individual pre-market safety assessments. Also, the principle of ‘substantial equivalence’ is used. This means that an existing food is compared with its genetically modified counterpart to find any differences between the existing food and the new product. The assessment investigates:

• Toxicity (using similar methods to those used for conventional foods)
• Tendency to provoke any allergic reaction
• Stability of the inserted gene
• Whether there is any nutritional deficit or change in the GM food
• Any other unintended effects of the gene insertion.

A GM food will only be approved for sale if it is safe and is as nutritious as its conventional counterparts. The safety of GM foods is still being debated, as it is impossible to predict all of the potential effects on human health and the environment. Some public health experts, however, advocate caution and believe that ‘we are only at the "scientific starting line", we simply don’t know whether GM foods are safe’. Stephen Leeder, ‘Genetically modified foods - food for thought’

GM foods are more dangerous for children than adults

1. Children are generally more susceptible to toxins, allergens and nutritional problems.
   
   
2. They consume more milk which may be from cows treated with rbGH.
   
   
3. The emergence of antibiotic-resistant diseases may also significantly impact those
   children who are prone to recurring infections.
   

Animal genes in normally vegetarian food

No normally vegetarian food on sale in the UK contains copies of animal or fish genes. In addition, after consultation with The Vegetarian Society, the Government has accepted that if this does occur and the DNA of the inserted gene is still present in the final product it will be labeled with a phrase such as “contains copies of pig genes”. The general feeling in the food industry is that no manufacturer would be happy marketing any product so labelled.

How Can Gm Food Affect You

The GEAC has approved BT Brinjal for environmental release amidst widespread protests from citizens, NGOs, farmer organizations and eminent scientists. However the Minister of State (Independent Charge) Environment and Forests Shri Jairam Ramesh subsequently announced that a series of consultations will be organized with all stakeholders at different places before the final decision on this is taken and there in may lie a chance that the Government will actually place the interests of the people above those of corporations, for a change.

This is our last chance to stop GM. Many European Governments have rejected GM food as a result of protests from citizens refusing to become lab rats in the genetic experiment. Indians are not lab rats either. In the first leg of our campaign, more than 70,000 Indians wrote to the ex-Health Minister, Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss who took a firm public stance against GM foods. Let us do this again!

How to Avoid Genetically Modified Foods

Become familiar with the most common applications of genetic modification. These are the products (and their derivatives) that are most likely to be genetically modified:

• Soybeans - Gene taken from bacteria (Agrobacterium sp. strain CP4) and inserted into soybeans to make them more resistant to herbicides. See How to Live With a Soy Allergy for more information on avoiding soy products.
• Corn - There are two main varieties of GE corn. One has a Gene from the lepidoptera pathogen microorganism Bacillus thuringiensis inserted to produce the Bt toxin, which poisons insect pests. There are also several events which are resistant to various herbicide. Present in high fructose corn syrup and glucose/fructose which is prevalent in a wide variety of foods in America.
• Rapeseed/Canola - Gene added/transferred to make crop more resistant to herbicide.
• Sugar beets - Gene added/transferred to make crop more resistant to Monsanto's Roundup herbicide.
• Rice - Genetically modified to resist herbicides; not currently available for human consumption, but trace amounts of one GM long-grained variety (LLRICE601) may have entered the food supply in the USA and Europe.More recently, golden rice, a different strain of rice has been engineered to produce significantly higher levels of beta carotene, which the body uses to produce vitamin A. Golden rice is still undergoing testing to determine if it is safe for human consumption.
• Cotton - engineered to produce Bt toxin. The seeds are pressed into cottonseed oil, which is a common ingredient in vegetable oil and margarine.
• Dairy - Cows injected with GE hormone rBGH/rBST; possibly fed GM grains and hay.

Buy food labeled 100% organic.
Recognize fruit and vegetable label numbers.
Purchase beef that is 100% grass-fed.
Seek products that are specifically labeled as non-GM or GMO-free.
Shop locally.
Buy whole foods.

Scarcity of safety tests

How can the public make informed decisions about genetically modified (GM) foods when there is so little information about its safety? The lack of data is due to a number of reasons, including:

• It’s more difficult to evaluate the safety of crop-derived foods than individual chemical, drug, or food additives. Crop foods are more complex and their composition varies according to differences in growth and agronomic conditions.

• Publications on GM food toxicity are scarce. An article in Science magazine said it all: “Health Risks of Genetically Modified Foods: Many Opinions but Few Data”.¹ In fact, no peer-reviewed publications of clinical studies on the human health effects of GM food exist. Even animal studies are few and far between.

• The preferred approach of the industry has been to use compositional comparisons between GM and non-GM crops. When they are not significantly different the two are regarded as “substantially equivalent”, and therefore the GM food crop is regarded as safe as its conventional counterpart. This ensures that GM crops can be patented without animal testing. However, substantial equivalence is an unscientific concept that has never been properly defined and there are no legally binding rules on how to establish it.²

When food-crops are genetically modified, (“genetically modified” food is a misnomer!) one or more genes are incorporated into the crop’s genome using a vector containing several other genes, including as a minimum, viral promoters, transcription terminators, antibiotic resistance marker genes and reporter genes. Data on the safety of these are scarce even though they can affect the safety of the GM crop. For example:

• DNA does not always fully break down in the alimentary tract.^3,4 Gut bacteria can take up genes and GM plasmids5 and this opens up the possibility of the spread of antibiotic resistance.
• Insertion of genes into the genome can also result in unintended effects, which need to be reduced/eliminated by selection, since some of the ways the inserted genes express themselves in the host or the way they affect the functioning of the crop’s own genes are unpredictable. This may lead to the development of unknown toxic/allergenic components, which we cannot analyze for and seriously limiting the selection criteria.

Current testing methods need radical improvements.

Currently, toxicity in food is tested by chemical analysis of macro/micro nutrients and known toxins. To rely solely on this method is at best inadequate and, at worst, dangerous. Better diagnostic methods are needed, such as mRNA fingerprinting, proteomics and secondary metabolite profiling.⁶ However, consuming even minor constituents with high biological activity may have major effects on the gut and body’s metabolism, which can only be revealed from animal studies. Thus novel toxicological/nutritional methods are urgently needed to screen for harmful consequences on human/animal health and to pinpoint these before allowing a GM crop into the food chain.⁷

Genetically modified crops: The risk factor

Leading scientist Dr P M Bhargava warns that India may be flooded with genetically modified foods with unknown health risks unless the government takes urgent action.

some of the criticisms against GM foods

Environmental hazards

1. Unintended harm to other organisms
2. Reduced effectiveness of pesticides
3. Gene transfer to non-target species

Human health risks

1. Allergenicity
2. Unknown effects on human health

Economic concerns

Bringing a GM food to market is a lengthy and costly process, and of course agri-biotech companies wish to ensure a profitable return on their investment. Many new plant genetic engineering technologies and GM plants have been patented, and patent infringement is a big concern of agribusiness. Yet consumer advocates are worried that patenting these new plant varieties will raise the price of seeds so high that small farmers and third world countries will not be able to afford seeds for GM crops, thus widening the gap between the wealthy and the poor. It is hoped that in a humanitarian gesture, more companies and non-profits will follow the lead of the Rockefeller Foundation and offer their products at reduced cost to impoverished nations.