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Risks associated with biotechnology-derived foods |
M. C. MULRY, FoodWise, Inc., PO Box 89, Hygiene, CO 80533-0089 The most serious threat to the continued use of biotechnology as applied to food production is the loss of consumer confidence in the food produced using this technology. With more and more regulations requiring labeling or limiting the import of GE crops, continued development of this technology is gravely hampered globally. It is the responsibility of scientists to evaluate both the potential risks and benefits of new food technologies and help shape regulatory policy that will assure the safety of foods for the consumer. Many scientific summaries tend to downplay the risks and play up the benefits of this powerful technology. It is only by objectively evaluating these risks that it is possible to design appropriate systems to address these them appropriately in its application. This lack of objective evaluation and inadequate regulatory control has already resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars lost in just one notable case. Starlink corn contaminated virtually the entire corn crop in a very short period of time, proving to be highly costly to farmers, grain elevators, the seed provider, food manufacturers and the government. Potential risks attributed to food biotechnology fall into several categories: risks to human or animal health, risks to the environment, socioeconomic risks in developing countries, lack of appropriate regulatory oversight and ethical or religious concerns. In each of these categories, specific examples of potential negative outcomes, including allergenicity, creation of new toxins, increased weediness or weed resistance, potential loss of genetic diversity, potential harm to organic agriculture and inadequacy or failure of regulatory oversight will be covered. The future of the technology will be discussed, including the potential risks of application to animals, fish, and insects and issues regarding the use of food biotechnology to produce vaccines, birth control or other pharmaceutical applications.
Session 1, Biotechnology-derived foods: Is frankenfood a myth or a reality?
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