from: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/index.asp?URL=/national/4273801.htm Loopholes feed doubt By MARY VISCOVICH 21feb99 ALMOST half the food on our supermarket shelves contains some sort of genetically modified "mutant" food, say Australian nutritional experts. But loopholes in the law mean there is almost no way for consumers to know which foods are affected. Opponents of the genetically modified products � or "Frankenfoods" as they have been dubbed in Britain � say too little is known about possible long-term risks and say increases in cancers and immune deficiencies could result. A scientific panel in Europe has confirmed evidence from a Scottish study that genetically modified food had shrivelled the brain and other organs of rats. As debate on modified foods rages overseas, most Australians already regularly consume such products. The foods have been appearing on supermarket shelves over the past two years because there has been no legislation to prevent it. Soybeans, the wonder crop of the '90s, are being grown from genetically modified pest-resistant plants and processed into soy by- products used to enhance everything from baby formula to margarine and lollies. Fish and chips are already being cooked in genetically modified cottonseed oil. Consumer and health groups this week raised concerns over the recommendation by the Australia /and New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA) that Roundup Ready Soybeans and Ingard Cottonseed can be sold here. They were the first modified foods for which approval was formally sought, although both are already in shops. Authority spokeswoman Lydia Buchtmann assured consumers yesterday that modified foods already on the shelves were safe. "They were assessed under existing food laws which prohibit the sale of unsafe foods," Ms Buchtmann said. "These foods have been tested in the US and Europe, and have been on the market for a lot longer than they have been here." Ms Buchtmann said health ministers last July gave a nine-month period of grace for introduction of new standards for genetically modified foods. They decided all modified foods would have to be labelled, but legislation has not yet been passed. "Any genetically modified food which does not have approval by May 13 will have to be removed from shelves," she said. Bob Phelps, director of the Melbourne-based consumer health group the Australian GeneEthics Network, said that if applications by industrial giant Monsanto were approved for genetically modified corn, canola, cottonseed and soy, up to 90percent of supermarket food could be affected. Corn starches, other corn by-products, canola oil and cottonseed oil can be found in almost all processed foods. "People should talk to their health ministers and tell them we don't want it," Mr Phelps said. Genetic modifying involves the transfer of genes between different species. Plants can receive animal genes and animals can receive human genes. Experts say it can boost world food production through pest-resistant crops and giving greater shelf-life to foods. But Mr Phelps said the lack of regulation meant companies which sold modified foods did not have to label them. The companies were also trying to resist the need to label modified sugar, oils and enzymes such as yeast found in beer and bread. "Fifty per cent of the food on supermarket shelves contains genetically modified ingredients, while 100,000 tonnes of genetically modified soybeans are imported from the US each year," he said. "I think (these) foods will be allowed into this country but the issue of labelling is not negotiable. People have to have some sort of control over what they are buying." Mr Phelps said the danger lay in the DNA of modified food being transferred to humans. This could lead to problems such as resistance to antibiotics, changes in structure and make-up of food, and a narrowing of bio- diversity, which would see the virtual extinction of types of foods which contained vital disease-fighting properties. "Certain types of these plants have been bred to kill insects, there is no reason to assume they can't harm us. We just don't know yet," Mr Phelps said. Nutritionist Rosemary Stanton also called for caution. "People are moving forward with unholy haste to do this and I don't know why," she said. But Ms Stanton, who is on the steering committee of a special congress on the subject to be held in Canberra next month, said she believed the technology should not be thrown out. If it was used to put a hepatitis vaccine in a banana which could be easily distributed in the Third World, it was obviously of benefit, she said. Genetic food giant Monsanto yesterday stood by its products. "These technologies allow plants to be grown in better ways with less impact on the environment," said Monsanto spokesman Nick Tydens. "Down the track we will see things like potatoes which will absorb less fat when they are fried, foods with higher vitamin content and, particularly valuable in Asia, rice with higher levels of vitamin B- 12," he said. He said scare campaigns were being waged in Europe, even though the foods had been assessed and approved in 20 countries. "Most of the products would have about 1percent of genetically modified foods in them, a tiny amount which makes very little difference," Mr Tydens said. "We think people should be well informed, not scared." Peter Langridge, Professor of Plant Science at the University of Adelaide and member of the Genetic Manipulation Advisory Committee which reports to the Federal Government, also said he was alarmed at the direction the debate was taking in Europe. "There is a large group of people who live off keeping people frightened and there are some very serious errors of fact," Prof. Langridge he said. "There needs to be a debate, but it's crucial that the information we have is correct." He said he supported clear labelling of modified foods, but was confident that whatever made it to our tables was safe. Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
