What Are Genetically Engineered (GE) Foods?

by Jim Brobeck

GE foods are increasingly common products that contain ingredients resulting from gene splicing done by scientists. Genes are the blueprints used by organisms to create proteins and control metabolic processes. Changing an organism’s genes can cause it to produce unprecedented proteins or to alter previous generations of life cycles.

The first GE organisms were released into the environment and the store shelves in 1994. An explosion in technology has made the presence of GE ingredients extremely common in foods sold in the United States. Corn, potatoes, soybeans, tomatoes and canola are staples in the diet of our country. About 1/4 of U.S. cropland is planted to GE crops, making the U.S. by far the world’s largest producer of them. About 50% of its soybeans, 33% of its corn and about 55% of its cotton are GE varieties. There are also GE canola, potatoes, squash, tomatoes, and other crops.

According to the Organic Consumers’ Union, foods made with soy, corn, cottonseed or canola (including soy and corn derivatives such as lecithin, soy oil, soy proteins, corn syrup and cornstarch) may very well be GE foods. An estimated 60 to 75% of all non-organic supermarket foods now contain GE ingredients.

What hazards do GE foods present to consumers? The British Medical Association has called for an indefinite moratorium on GE foods. Four categories of consumer hazards have been identified; allergens, toxins, antibiotic resistance and nutritional deficits.

Unexpected Allergic Reactions may occur when genes from one organism with high danger potential (such as Brazil nuts) are mixed with a common food additive crop such as soybeans. In 1996 such a soybean was developed and the owners of the GE patent didn’t want to pay for the expensive testing to determine if the Brazil nut allergen crossed into the soybean. Extra tests carried out by researchers discovered the problem and averted a disaster by preventing the GE Brazil nut-soy products from entering the commercial food stream.

GE foods may have toxic effects. For example, Monsanto’s GE Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH) is used in milk production, where it raises the level of Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1). Studies suggest that people with elevated levels of IGF-1 are more likely to get prostate cancer, breast cancer and lung cancer than those with normal levels. Another example: GE potatoes were found to weaken rats’ immune systems and adversely affect their kidneys, thymuses, spleens, guts and brains.

Antibiotic Resistance may result from consuming GE foods due to a technicality of gene splicing. Since not all organisms will successfully take up foreign genes during gene insertion, antibiotic resistance genes are added to the foreign genes. This allows engineers to kill off the unmodified organisms using antibiotics. When eaten, these foods could reduce the effectiveness of antibiotics to fight disease when taken with meals.

NUTRITION: Soybeans have been found to contain beneficial phytoestrogen compounds that are associated with a decrease in heart disease and cancer. The Journal of Medicinal Food has stated that GE soybeans have less of this nutritional component then natural soybeans.

Improved food quality is not the purpose or the result of genetic engineering. According to a USDA report, 98 percent of genetic alterations are done to make food production and processing easier and more profitable for the manufacturers. Only 2 percent are aimed at improved nutrition or taste. In general, these crops are being engineered to increase corporate profitability, not designed to alleviate world hunger. The primary function of bioengineering is to improve the control of agriculture by the giant agri-business corporations by meeting the following goals.

HERBICIDE RESISTANT CROPS: These are crops engineered to tolerate an herbicide so that it can be applied without harming the crop. For example, Monsanto sells its Roundup Ready® crops along with its Roundup herbicide (glyphosate). Herbicide resistant crops account for about 71% of all GE crops.

PESTICIDE CROPS: Pesticide crops are engineered to contain a pesticide within their cells. For example, Bt corn contains a toxin normally produced by the Bacillus Thuriengensis (Bt) bacterium. The toxin produced by the corn is more durable than the short-lived toxin produced by the bacterium. Long term effects on humans who consume this toxin have not been studied. These crops account for about 22% of all GE crops.

SINGLE GENERATION CROPS: Crops that limit their own use are designed to produce seeds that are sterile, forcing farmers to buy new seed every year, instead of being able to save, share and breed them. This has particularly dire consequences for the small family farmer and subsistence farmers around the world. There is some concern that the so-called "terminator" gene may jump species and effect viability in other plants.

PRODUCTION ENHANCING CHEMICALS: Some GE products are chemicals used in food production. For example, about a third of U.S. dairy cows are injected with recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH) to increase their milk production. The increased stress associated with the revved up milk production can lead to infectious disease in the dairy animals and an increase in antibiotic use.

FARMED ANIMALS: Some production animals are genetically engineered for some "advantageous" trait. For example, under development are Atlantic salmon that are engineered to grow up to 600% faster early on and up to 200% faster overall. These penned fish may be at a disadvantage in the wild and some biologists fear that hybridized wild-GE salmon would threaten the wild stocks.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USDA) share the responsibility of ensuring that genetically engineered foods are safe for consumers and safe for the environment. Unfortunately, these agencies have built a structure of weak policies and non-regulation of this ever-growing industry, paving the way for the biotech industry to take the lead. Federal agencies are not advancing efforts for the safety and regulation of GE foods, but rather following the guidelines created by the biotech industry.

Although two-thirds of all processed foods in the United States contains genetically engineered ingredients, there are no regulatory laws for mandatory pre-market testing or labeling.

The leaders in biotechnology are the same giant chemical companies -- Monsanto, DuPont, Aventis and Novartis -- that sell toxic pesticides and herbicides. These companies are genetically engineering plants to be resistant to herbicides that they manufacture so they in turn can sell more herbicides. Farmers in both developed and developing countries will become increasingly dependent on the industry to provide them with the materials necessary to continue their livelihood.

From the Winter 2001 issue of the Environmental News.