Genetically Modified Food Controversies - Health

Health

Governments worldwide assess and manage the risks associated with the release of genetically modified organisms and the marketing of genetically modified food. There are differences in the risk assessment of GM food, and therefore in the regulation of GMOs, between countries. Some of the most marked differences occur between the USA and Europe. Crops not intended for food use are generally not reviewed by authorities responsible for food safety. Food derived from GMOs is not tested in humans before it is marketed as it is not a single chemical, nor is it intended to be ingested in specific doses and times, which makes it difficult to design meaningful clinical studies. Regulators examine the genetic modification, its protein products, and any intended changes that those proteins make to the food. Regulators also check to see whether the food derived from a GMO is "substantially equivalent" to its non-GM-derived counterpart, which provides a way to detect any negative non-intended consequences of the genetic engineering. If the newly incorporated protein is not similar to that of other proteins found in food or if anomalies arise in the substantial equivalence comparison, further toxicological testing is required.

There is broad scientific consensus that food on the market derived from GM crops is safe enough to eat. In 2012, the American Association for the Advancement of Science stated "Foods containing ingredients from genetically modified (GM) crops pose no greater risk than the same foods made from crops modified by conventional plant breeding techniques." The American Medical Association, the National Academies of Sciences and the Royal Society of Medicine have said that despite being consumed for over 15 years and eaten by millions of people worldwide there have been no reports in peer-reviewed literature of any obvious human health impacts. The European Commission Directorate-General for Research and Innovation produced a report in 2010 saying that the research has shown that GMOs are no more risky than conventional food. A 2004 report by Working Group 1 of the ENTRANSFOOD project, a group of scientists funded by the European Commission to identify prerequisites for introducing agricultural biotechnology products in a way that is largely acceptable to European society, concluded that "the combination of existing test methods provides a sound test-regime to assess the safety of GM crops."

There is a view from many of the scientists and regulators who support GM food that there is a continuing need for improved testing technologies and protocols to identify and manage risk better. A consensus document released by the OECD in 2010 says that molecular characterisation by itself is not the best way to predict the safety of GM plants, but can focus the other safety assessment procedures. They also suggest that new technologies will develop that will aid in the "food, feed and environmental risk/safety assessments. " While generally transgenic and cisgenic organisms are treated similarly when assessed, in 2012 the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Panel on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) has said that"novel hazards" could be associated with transgenic crops that will not be present in cisgenic ones. Some scientists and advocacy groups such as Greenpeace and World Wildlife Fund have concerns that known risks are not managed well enough, and that there is too much potential for currently unknown risks to emerge. The Organic Consumers Association, Greenpeace, and The Center for Food Safety claim the long-term health risks which GM could pose, or the environmental risks associated with GM, have not yet been adequately investigated. In Japan, the Consumers Union of Japan say that truly independent research in these areas is systematically blocked by the GM corporations which own the GM seeds and reference materials. A 2011 article by Séralini et al. noted that "it must be said that very few tests on humans have been carried out up to now."