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Safe
modified food offers many benefits
Chicago Tribune
22-Oct-2002
Rosetta
Newsome writes that she was shocked to read the opinions espoused by
Pauline N. Harding, MD, in her Oct. 11 Voice of the people,
"Playing guinea pigs to genetically modified food." By
loosely and irresponsibly attributing to genetically modified foods a
silent pandemic of mild to serious illnesses and ailments, from hair
loss to alcoholism, that have afflicted society for centuries, is
nothing short of scare tactics.
Newsome says
that Harding's views on genetically modified foods are entirely
contrary to those of national and international scientific and
medical groups, including the Chicago-based international
not-for-profit scientific society Institute of Food Technologists,
seven scientific academies worldwide (five from developing nations),
the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization and World
Health Organization, and the American Medical Association.
In response to
Harding's purposeful efforts to misinform and mislead, IFT invites
everyone to examine its "Expert Report on Biotechnology and
Foods" at www.ift.org/govtrelations/biotech. The report
references sources who have spelled out the promise of biotechnology
and its capabilities to produce foods that can lead to better health
for consumers in both industrialized and developing nations.
Based upon a
strong science base, not scary stories of Halloween-ilk, IFT's report
assures us that genetically modified foods, including those derived
from the use of modern recombinant DNA technology, are at least as
safe as foods from traditional genetic modification (for example,
selective and cross-breeding) and are consistent with all existing
standards of food safety. The report also informs us, factually, that
foods derived from the use of this technology are subject to rigorous
systematic scientific evaluations--far more than routinely applied to
foods from traditional genetic modification.
The AMA
recognizes the many potential benefits, such as enhanced nutritional
quality, reduced allergic reactions and potential to prevent and cure
disease, offered by foods from modern genetic modification, and
encourages their development. By spreading falsehoods and innuendo,
Harding serves her own interests while doing an unbelievable
disservice to the Tribune's readers and any patients she may have who
struggle with the conditions she identified.
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