Is Genetically-Modified Food Safe?

Image courtesy of St. Columbian's Mission)

Just when you think we don't have to worry about GM, the car company, along comes GM, the food. As in "genetically-modified." To date, the goal is producing plants that are naturally more disease- and pest-resistant, often by switching genes from one species to the next. But the problem with GM food is there's no certainty it's safe, and no way to prevent it from entering the gene pool of other plants or animals, potentially changing the way we live permanently, and perhaps in ways we might regret.

Consumer unease with the American food safety regulators is being fanned not just by peanut and pistachio recalls, but by the growing awareness that genetically-modified produce is now entering the retail food system. GM plants were the first battleground, with some EU countries attempting to ban their importation. Now the question is about milk from cloned cows. Unilever’s Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream got the discussion going with an April Fools prank website asserting they were now using perfect milk from cloned cows. Experts point out that it is currently virtually impossible to trace GM produce once it enters the commercial marketplace, so consumers will have to lobby for prevention rather than testing or tracking.

The FDA (Food & Drug Administration) has concluded that milk and meat from cloned animals is safe, despite the absence of any long-term studies and the objections of some critics that slight differences in the meat and milk of cloned cows means there is at least the potential for an impact on human health.

Europeans have fought against the introduction of GM plants and plant produce into the EU, while American farmers and food processors have generally embraced GM crops, especially those with inbred resistance to pests and disease. Monsanto has received the go-ahead from both the US and Canada to plant the first GM corn next Spring. Corn is used for much more than a foodstuff, forming the basis for starches, oils, sweeteners and, of course, snack foods (chips). USDA figures list the total corn acreage in the US as averaging around 85MM acres for the past 5 years, with 85% of it now genetically modified (compared to 47% five years ago).

But concerns persist that GM plants cannot be isolated from native species, and that the gene pool for non-GM corn and other crops will inevitably be contaminated by GM pollens. Farmers were once required to set aside 20% of their planting for non-GM modified crops in what's called the "refuge." The theory is that if diseases or insects developed a resistance to the GM traits, the entire corn crop wouldn't be compromised. But the USDA is now saying that the combination of disease- and pest-resistant qualities make that scenario unlikely, so farmers can now plant all but 5% of their land with GM corn.

European critics of GM foods have also pointed to the conflict of interest in the US, where food regulations and enforcement are handled under one roof, unlike in the EU. The recent food contamination scandals have elicited calls for stricter regulation and enforcement, as well as for splitting the FDA in two. Monsanto is currently suing the German government over the latter's ban on its GM wheat.

A recent survey by NPD Group shows that US consumer confidence in the safety of the food supply chain has slipped over the past five years, though that concern has centered on food preparation and handling, not in the food supply. According to the survey, consumer confidence in supermarket foods has declined from 68% to 63%, a remarkable five point drop. Consumer confidence in the safety of restaurant food has hovered around 50% for the past few years and showed no change over last year. The #1 worry among consumers is salmonella and E. coli contamination (80% of respondents showing at least some concern). These two problems have maintained a steady level of concern over the past five years of the survey, with trans fats coming in at 79%. Other concerns were mercury in seafood (68%), mad cow disease (65%), HFCS (high fructose corn syrup, 58%), bovine growth hormones in milk (64%), genetically-modified food (51%), hoof & mouth disease (48%), and meat/milk from cloned animals (42%).

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