News and Analysis • Volume • Number • 6th August 2004

BETTER TESTING NEEDED FOR ALL NOVEL FOODS, NOT JUST GMOS

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A new report released by the US National Academies’ National Research Council and Institute of Medicine calls on the US federal agencies to assess the safety of genetically altered foods — whether produced by conventional breeding or genetic engineering. Thus, rather than differentiating on the basis of techniques used in the production, safety evaluations should apply to any foods containing new compounds or unusual amounts of naturally occurring substances. While noting that genetic engineering was not an inherently hazardous process, the report acknowledges that such techniques were more likely to cause unintended changes than conventional methods, such as simple selection. The authors, however, stressed that they did not see a need for re-examining past approvals of genetically engineered foods and that the main focus of future work should be on the pre-approval process rather than post-market tracking. Both sides of the debate regarded the report as supporting their position. Industry groups expressed satisfaction with the report’s conclusion that the risks from biotech foods are not unique, which according to Michael Philipps of the Biotechnology Industry Organization “should lay to rest the few naysayers who continue to question the safety of these crops”. For their part, consumer groups welcomed the acknowledgement that biotech foods could have unintended consequences and that further research was needed. In response to the report, the Washington-based Centre for Food Safety called for a mandatory pre-market assessment and approval process for genetically engineered foods, as well as mandatory labelling of such foods to effectively track human health impacts after commercialisation.

“Composition of Altered Food Products, Not Method Used to Create Them, Should Be Basis for Federal Safety Assessment,” NATIONAL ACADEMIES, 27 July 2004; “NAS Says Genetically Engineered Foods Not Proven Safe,” CFS, 27 July 2004; “Panel sees no unique risk from genetic engineering,” NYT, 28 July 2004.