| 9/25/2003 FDA Should Keep Close Watch on Biotech Foods-Panel - 9/24 Reuters The independent food advisory panel of academics and an industry representative is helping the FDA determine whether recent technological advances in biotech foods could alter their safety for consumers. "There isn't going to be a problem in the near-term," said Anne Kapuscinski, a professor at the University of Minnesota, who is part of the 11-member panel. "But we're just trying to make sure that doesn't make us complacent." The FDA is one of three government agencies that monitor genetically modified crops. The U.S. Agriculture Department's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service oversees bio-crop trials and the Environmental Protection Agency is responsible for regulating plants engineered to produce pesticides. Abigail Salyers, a professor of microbiology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, was concerned the FDA devoted too many resources on bioterrorism and failed to address "the real public health issues that can sicken and kill people." FDA officials said it is too soon to determine if future bioengineered products are safe. They noted that even the best detection system could fail to catch unintended consequences such as a change in the food's genetic composition over time. "I want to point out that there will be unintended affects," said Thomas Cebula, a director at the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. "The question is whether those unintended effects will affect the quality and food safety" of bioengineered products. Some U.S. foodmakers and environmental groups have called for stricter regulatory controls including a standard system to determine the safety of all new bioengineered products. "The way it is done now, it is less likely" we are going to detect unintended problems to the food product, said Douglas Gurian-Sherman, a director with the Center for Science in the Public Interest, who is on the committee. U.S. biotech companies are now encouraged, but not required, to submit food safety testing data to federal regulators for review. The FDA has been reviewing stricter regulations for bioengineered products including more safety testing. The agency, however, said the current system is working and there is no evidence that people who consume the products are experiencing any adverse effects. In 2000, vast amounts of taco shells and other corn-based foods were recalled after StarLink, a biotech corn variety approved only for animal feed, was discovered in the U.S. food supply. Last year, biotech firm ProdiGene Inc. was fined for accidentally tainting crops with an experimental corn plant engineered to produce medicine. The United States is the world leader in biotech crops, growing about 75 percent of soybeans, 71 percent of cotton and 34 percent of corn from genetically modified seeds. Related Link: http://www.reuters.com |
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