The Genetic Engineering Transparency Food and Seed Labeling Act, H.3242, if passed in Massachusetts, would require the words “Produced with genetic engineering” to be printed clearly and conspicuously on product packages that contain genetically altered ingredients.
I have, for the past 35 years, been watching the scientific and medical communities – without exception – initially underestimate the effects of diet upon our health. Over those years, study after study underestimated the causal relationships between what we consume, and cancer and other degenerative diseases. It required overwhelming anecdotal evidence to push back against those studies – and it always comes at the expense of consumers’ health. Today, of course, we acknowledge the intimate connection between diet and many lifestyle illnesses, from Type II diabetes, to Crohn’s disease, heart disease, colon cancer, stroke and host of other illnesses.
So, what occurred in those intervening years? The nature of disease didn’t change: the nature of the inquiry did. And so it must again today.
Those industries profiting from the sale of genetically modified foods say that we shouldn't be concerned because it has been shown that these foods are not harmful to human health. But I believe that we cannot gauge the safety of genetically modified foods in the same way we determine the safety of, say, prescription drugs.
For instance, the unintended side effects of FDA-approved drugs become evident after only days, weeks – at most, months – of a drug’s approval. The anecdotal evidence mounts as millions of Americans consume the product and present symptoms, eventually forcing the FDA to reconsider, then eventually remove these products from the shelf. But many of the effects of GMOs in our food supply will become known only after years of consuming them, and will become evident with the possibly irreversible genetic and health complications in newborns going forward. And, unlike other drugs, this will not be a “product” that we will be able to recall.
How common is it for products approved and marketed to be recalled? Pharmaceutical Online is a web site. It is not in the business of selling anything; it does not stand to profit from the sale of genetically modified foods. It is the sourcing site for the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry – its spokesperson, if you will. On its web site, it acknowledges the following: “Biological products [and that is exactly what a bioengineered food is]… Biological products have definite risks, as they are often only partially understood at the time of approval.” So, the industry acknowledges the inherent risks that remain in products, even after they’ve been approved and marketed. Trial-and-error continues after approval. We have known this to be true, but that is a risk we cannot afford when it comes to the consumption of bioengineered foods.
A case in point:
Over the past few years, it has been discovered that epigenetic mechanisms– or, external modifications to our internal DNA – can be induced by the environment and lead to long-term changes in gene expression. But we are only just now beginning to understand exactly what those environmental influences are. A recent study in the peer-reviewed Frontiers In Genetics* suggests that even maternal nutrition induces these modifications, sometimes permanently.
In layman’s terms: The placenta is not the impenetrable barrier we once believed it to be. The diet of the mother has been found to actually alter gene expression in the fetus, which in turn leads to physical and biologic changes. The mother’s dietary choices cause modifications to DNA that turn genes "on" or "off" in developing fetal tissue, determining both the physical and biochemical characteristics of the fetus… for life… and going forward as that offspring, in turn, reproduces future generations. In perpetuity.
So – at the very least – we need to proceed with an abundance of caution. This is new and unexplored territory. We have to raise the bar on evaluating the safety of bioengineered foods because, unlike all other products previously evaluated by the FDA, these products carry the potential of causing irreversible genetic damage to our offspring and future generations.
National surveys show that 93% of Americans favor genetically modified ingredients listed on food labels. This represents more than a supermajority of voters; this represents virtually everyone. It is my opinion that the decision of our legislators will affect the constitutional (genetic) health of children, going forward. Allowing unfettered use of genetically modified ingredients in our foods would be unprecedented, and could have irreversible consequences. An overwhelming majority of Americans want, at the very least, to be able to avoid consuming these foods, and we can only do that by knowing which foods have been doctored in this way.
Jeffrey Reel is a writer, educator, and the Sustainability Manager at the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies, in Rhinebeck, New York.
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