Agricultural biotechnology’s self-professed impeccable health and safety record is being questioned by a group of physicians.
“There is more than a casual association between GM foods and adverse health effects,” said the American Academy of Environmental Medicine in a recent news release.
Several animal studies prove that genetically modified crops pose a serious health risk in the areas of toxicology, allergy and immune function, reproductive health and metabolic, physiologic and genetic health, it said.
The academy calls itself an international association of physicians and other professionals interested in the clinical aspects of humans and their environment.
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Jill Maase, vice-president of plant biotechnology with CropLife Canada, offered an alternate description.
“They’ve been characterized as being on the fringes of the medical community,” she said.
Maase said the group is guilty of cherry-picking from a small array of studies that support their stance on GM crops, some of which have not been peer-reviewed.
“The studies that they cite are not new, they’re not especially ground-breaking, nor are they viewed as being entirely credible.”
GM crops have been thoroughly reviewed by the Canadian government for their health, safety and environmental impacts.
An estimated 70 percent of processed foods may contain GM corn, soy or canola oil. Before any of that food lands on a consumer’s plate the crops it is made from have been approved by three Canadian government agencies and conform to five pieces of legislation.
“It’s a pretty robust system,” said Maase, adding that the findings of a few studies do not stand up to 14 years of scrutiny by a host of regulatory agencies in Canada and abroad.
“The totality of evidence suggest there is absolutely no issue whatsoever.”
But according to the American Academy of Environmental Medicine, animal studies show there are serious health risks associated with consuming GM foods and it is “biologically plausible” they are causing the same problems in humans.
“With this mounting evidence, it is imperative to have a moratorium on GM foods for the safety of our patients’ and the public’s health,” said Amy Dean, public relations chair of the organization.
Some of the studies the group references in its paper have already had an impact on government policy concerning GM crops.
A 2008 study on Monsanto’s MON810 corn showed a significant decrease in offspring over time and significantly lower litter weight in mice fed the GM corn. The study also found that more than 400 genes were expressed differently in those mice.
In April, Germany became the sixth European country to ban the cultivation of MON810 corn.
“I have come to the conclusion that there are legitimate grounds to accept that genetically modified corn from the MON810 strain constitutes a danger to the environment,” said Ilse Aigner, Germany’s minister for food, agriculture and consumer protection.
