Despite the uproar, answers are hard to find
The stakes for both sides are enormous. In 1999, 47% of the soybeans and 37% of the corn grown in the U.S. were genetically modified to resist herbicides or fight pests. While much of it went into animal feed, Americans now are eating small amounts of these substances in pancakes, corn flakes, and other foods. Kellogg Co. and Quaker Oats, to pick two, say they can’t guarantee their products are free of genetically engineered foods. Only a few companies, such as Gerber Products Co. and H.J. Heinz Co., have sworn off GM ingredients in some or all products. If regulators have been asleep at the switch, as critics charge, and bio-foods do harbor unexpected allergens and toxins, then the dinner table becomes a scary place.
What’s more, U.S. farmers are already losing $200 million a year in corn exports because of European opposition to modified foods. And international development experts fret that giants such as Monsanto Co. and Novartis have clouded the technology’s future by pushing products, such as herbicide-resistant soybeans, that offer no immediately apparent benefit to consumers. If biotech foes end up blocking future biotech crops that really could make a difference, such as virus-resistant sweet potato or drought-tolerant corn, ”we’ve done a tremendous amount of damage,” warns Per Pinstrup-Andersen, director general of the International Food Policy Research Institute.
OVERBLOWN
So are genetically engineered crops safe–both to people and the environment? The truth is we just don’t know for certain. ”It would be irresponsible to answer that question,” says science policy expert and critic Erik Millstone of the University of Sussex. Even staunch biotech-food backers agree. ”We don’t have all the answers and to pretend we do, or to brush off concern as unfounded, is to be arrogant and reckless,” said DuPont Chief Executive Charles O. Holliday Jr. in a recent speech.
Yet there are some answers, and so far, they suggest that the fears are overblown. Consider the health effects. Foes argue that foods with biotech ingredients are untested and potentially dangerous. ”The same Food & Drug Administration that prides itself on keeping thalidomide off the market has turned a blind eye to the genetic engineering of our food supply,” charges Representative Peter A. DeFazio (D-Ore.). The criticism puzzles FDA officials and company execs, who point out that the new crops have been through a gauntlet of tests. Take soybeans gene-altered to resist Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup, a relatively benign herbicide. With those crops, farmers can use Roundup to control weeds while soybean crops are growing and avoid more dangerous chemicals.
To satisfy the FDA, Monsanto had to show that the gene-altered soybeans are no different than regular varieties. It did 1,800 analyses comparing the two types, looking at fatty acids, proteins, and hundreds of other substances. The results: The normal and genetically engineered plants are indistinguishable.
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