OSU assistant farm manager Wayne Lewis cultivates for weed control in soybeans. (Photo by Keith Weller, courtesy of USDA)
Products made from genetically engineered crops are appearing in more and more foods. There’s a good chance just about any prepackaged food that’s made with soybean oil, soy flour, corn flour, corn oil or Canola will be derived from genetically engineered crops. Critics make strong claims about the risks associated with bio-engineered foods. In the first of two interviews on the subject, the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham talked with Jeffrey Smith, who’s spoken and written extensively on genetically engineered crops. He asked Smith why he’s opposed to the approach to altering crops:
Transcript
Genetically engineered foods are appearing in more and more foods. There’s a good chance just
about any prepackaged food that’s made with soybean oil, soy flour, corn flour, corn oil or
Canola will be derived from genetically engineered crops. Critics made strong claims about the
risks associated with bio-engineered foods. In the first of two interviews on the subject, the Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham talked with Jeffrey Smith who has spoken and written
extensively on genetically engineered crops. He asked Smith why he’s opposed to the approach
to altering crops:
Smith: “Genetically engineered foods are inherently unsafe. In fact, the FDA’s own scientists, as
evidenced by internal memos that were made public by a lawsuit, described the dangers of
genetically modified foods as potentially allergens, toxins, new diseases and nutritional problems
that would not necessarily be detected by the creators of those foods, and they urged their
superiors to require long-term safety testing in order to protect the public. But their superiors
were political appointees, including a former attorney for Monsanto, a leading biotechnology
company, and they in a memo, said that they were creating a policy in line with White House
policy, which was for the safe and speedy development of the U.S. biotechnology industry. So
they ignored their own scientists and allowed the foods on the market without safety testing, and
gave companies like Monsanto and others the complete authority to determine whether the foods
are safe. Those who have looked at the research studies by industry have been shocked at how
flimsy and superficial they have been and how they could be putting the public at risk.”
LG: “On the other hand, some of these genetically modified foods have been around for almost
20 years in some cases, and there have been relatively few problems with these. For instance,
Roundup Ready soybeans have been around for quite a while now, and there’s been no report of
any substantial problems.”
Smith: “It’s easy to say there’s no report because there’s no one looking for a report. There are
very few studies done on Roundup Ready soybeans, and the one, the big study by Monsanto that
was put out in ’96, was basically rigged to avoid finding problems according to many scientists
I’ve talked to.”
LG: “When I talk to people who are knowledgeable about growing food, using genetically
engineered foods, and worried about the food supply, they say the world needs genetically
engineered foods in order to feed the growing population. In fact, I talked to Nobel Peace Prize
winner Norman Borlaug, and he says the small risks that are associated with genetically
engineered foods are well worth it, and I’m wondering what you think of that.”
Smith: “Well, it’s irresponsible to say that it can only create minor risks, because it could put the
whole population in peril. But also, as far as the feed the world mythology, if you look at the
United Nation’s FAO report, they said we have more food per person than any time in history,
and if you project food production and if you project population growth, we’re not going to run
out of food any time soon. Many, many commentors have said that famine and hunger are not the
result of lack of production overall, they’re the result of economic and distribution problems, as
evidenced today by the fact that so many people go to bed hungry, and yet we have more food per
person than any time in history.”
LG: “Are you suggesting that we abandon genetically engineered foods altogether?”
Smith: “My suggestion is that at this point in the infant stages of understanding the DNA, where
every month we learn more and more about gene expression, we are way too early to be putting
the population at risk with foods. I’m not in favor of abandoning research on biotechnology, but I
am shocked that the United States government has allowed these foods on the market at this early
stage.”
LG: “That gets to another point – some would say, ‘well just let consumers decide.’ I’m
wondering what you think of the fact that we don’t know whether we’re eating soybeans or corn
or animals that have eaten those kinds of foods – it’s not on the label.”
Smith: “Well, the vast majority of Americans, more than 90%, want GM foods to be labeled.
Also, about 58% said that if the foods were labeled, they would choose not to eat it. Now the
FDA has a specific mandate to promote the biotechnology industry. So if they’re trying to
promote biotechnology, they certainly don’t want to do what the citizens want, which is to give
them a chance to avoid it. So those who want to avoid eating GMOs have to eat no soy, no corn,
no cottonseed oil, no canola oil whatsoever, unless it says non-GMO or organic. So it puts a
higher burden on the consumer and it goes against what the consumers want. The United States
is one of the very few industrialized countries that don’t have labeling laws about GMOs.”
HOST TAG: “Jeffrey Smith, speaking with Lester Graham. Smith is the author of the book,
Seeds of Deception: Exposing Industry and Government Lies about the Safety of the
Genetically Engineered Foods You’re Eating.”