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Author: Genetically engineered foods may pose danger
Set to Speak in Greenfield today at noon
By Richie Davis, Recorder Staff
Greenfield Recorder
Greenfield, Massachusetts
October 3, 2003
Without knowing it, you may be eating food made from or laced with a product that could be unsafe and hasn’t been sufficiently tested, contends the author of a new book, "Seeds of Deception."
Jeffrey M. Smith’s new book, with the subtitle, "Exposing industry and government lies about the safety of the genetically engineered foods you’re eating," is the subject of an appearance at Green Fields Market today at noon. The Iowa author spoke Thursday at Mohawk Trail Regional High School and at Smith College.
"Seeds of Deception" contends industry manipulation and political collusion have put genetically modified foods on store shelves.
"This book, said Smith, is designed to be a change agent, to ignite a movement by people to avoid eating genetically engineered food and to take steps to protect their children."
Smith, a former marketing vice president for a laboratory that tests for the presence of genetically modified foods, points to industry studies that he says appear rigged. He cited one with a genetically engineered bovine growth hormone in which researchers injected cows with only one-forty-seventh the normal dosage before reporting hormone residues in milk, and heating the milk 120 times longer than standard, to report that pasteurization destroys the hormone. In another example, nutritional differences between engineered and natural types of soy were omitted from published research, he contended.
According to Smith, government employees who complained were harassed and fired, their evidence stolen, their data was omitted or distorted. FDA scientists, for example, warned that modified foods could create toxins, allergies, nutritional problems, and new diseases, but their superiors ignored their recommendations for long-term safety tests. Hence, Smith points out, none are required.
"Seeds of Deception" tells of an independent study of modified foods fed to animals- one of only two such independent studies, said Smith- that found damage to the immune system and the vital organs, and a potentially pre-cancerous condition. Its researcher lost his job and was threatened with a lawsuit, according to Smith.
The only human test of genetically modified food, Smith said, confirmed that engineered genes transferred from a soy burger and soy milkshake to the bacteria inside the digestive tract after only one meal. The World Health Organization and the British and American medical associations have raised concerns that if the "antibiotic resistant marker genes" used in modified foods transferred to gut bacteria, it could create super-diseases immune to antibiotics.
One-sided
Admittedly, "Seeds of Deception" is a one-sided treatise, but Smith - who is planning a second book about the environmental impact of modified foods - makes no apologies.
"I build an argument to make a point," he said. "There are $50 million a year being spent by the biotechnology companies to build their argument to make a point. There is $132 million spent on lobbying by biotech companies, and they have been very successful in convincing the American public that foods are safe. People think the FDA has reviewed them. They don’t know it’s in their foods. It’s all a mythology. You could create a GMO in the laboratory and sell it in the market without telling the FDA. That’s the extent of their regulations."
The claim that genetic engineering promises a cure for feeding the world’s fast-growing population - a case made in an article in the current Atlantic Monthly, "Will Frankenfood Save the Planet?" - is bogus, said Smith. He argues that yields of modified soy are down by 5 percent, that engineered food will cause "devastation" in the world health, and that famine is related more to economics and distribution than to food production.
"There’s this myth that if we produce more, we’ll solve world hunger, and it’s a total myth," said Smith, adding that genetic engineering has the government $10 million to $12 million over for four years for increased subsidies because of lost markets in countries that reject genetic engineering.
"Even though I believe GM foods may be one of the most serious health and environmental dangers we face, it’s going to be one of the easiest battles to win," said Smith, who is on a national tour to promote the book. "We do not need to convince the government. The whole thing can be accomplished by our purchasing dollars. Major companies will not wait for a significant percentage to switch; just a small vocal minority can do it."
After his talk at Mohawk, Smith showed a video about how a high school in Appleton, Wisc. Had changed its diet. In Great Britain, he said, consumer demand led Unilever to decide against using genetically engineered foods, and other food producers soon followed.
"We just need to have a small percentage change and inform, he said."
Thanks to a public outcry the government’s proposed rules for organic labeling exclude genetically modified methods. Even so, wind and rain can drift genetically modified pesticides to organic crops, he warned.
The Greenfield-based Organic Trade Association, which sponsored Thursday’s talk at Mohawk, is concerned for that reason.
"Organic products are one choice people can make to avoid genetically modified organisms, because organic crops and animals are raised without the use of genetic engineering," said OTA Executive Director Katherine DiMatteo. The association, she said, "has called for a moratorium on the use of genetic engineering in agriculture because it is impossible to keep pollen from genetically engineered plants from affecting the organic farms, and from the environment that we all depend on to keep ourselves healthy."
By carefully reading labels, Smith said, people can also avoid foods with genetically modified corn, soy, cottonseed, canola, dairy, and other products. But it isn’t easy, he said.
"The vast majority of Americans- over 90 percent- have requested labeling, and our government refuses to do so," said Smith. "It makes it more difficult, but not impossible, to avoid eating genetically modified foods."
Reprinted with permission from the "Greenfield Recorder"
You can reach Richie Davis at rdavis@recorder.com or (413)-772-0261 Ext. 269.
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