Playing with your food - Genetically-modified foods Is our health at risk?

Eulalee Thompson

MOST JAMAICANS have not yet caught up with the food fuss on the other side of the Atlantic about genetically-modified (GM) food. However, hardly a week goes by in Britain, for instance, without some press coverage on the "Frankenfoods" or "Frankenstein foods" - uncomplimentary terms for GM food.

Genetically-modified food is actually produced when scientists modify the genetic material of plants or animals in the laboratory. If you consider a cell in any organism -- it is made up of chromosomes, which are made up of DNA and are organised into sections which are known as genes. The genes are important to determine the characteristics of the organism. In GM (an offspring of biotechnology), the scientist meddle with the genes; for example, "cutting" a gene from one organism and then "pasting" it into another to modify its characteristics.

Local scientist, Dr. Wayne McLaughlin had reported last year that the University of the West Indies (UWI) Biotechnology Centre had been able to use the technique to modify genes in some local crops such as tomatoes, making them more resistant to the "jherri curl" disease. The papaya and scotch bonnet pepper have also benefited from the technique making them less vulnerable to harmful viruses.

Scientists, like Dr. McLaughlin, say that there is no evidence that genetically-modified foods will harm humans and animals. These scientists would want Jamaica to take advantage of the benefits of biotechnology and to invest in research and development.

Biotechnologists argue that genetic modification can enhance the nutritional value of food; speed up the breeding of animals and the growing of plants and produce them with more desirable characteristics. They argue for increased crop yields, reduced need for pesticides which are harmful to the environment and smaller losses from spoilage since more resistant organisms are being produced with the technology.

The flip side of the coin, which advocacy groups, including Greenpeace, are cautious about, are issues related to the long-term health effects of GM food on humans and the safety of the technology. With the "mad cow" disease - a feeding experiment gone awry - still fresh in the minds of European, there is a strong concern for the health hazards and for mandatory labelling of foods containing GM material to give consumers the choice to refuse to purchase these items.

One of the advocacy groups strongest arguments is that enough time has not elapsed for a complete assessment of the effect of GM food on humans and the environment.

Some studies have been done on GM food by groups such as the British Medical Association and they argue about the possibility of negative health consequences but the findings of various studies have not been able to establish a cause-effect relationship between GM food and ill-health.

Without this concrete scientific relationship -- what is the next step for consumers? The British authorities have already taken a big step forward putting a moratorium on the commercial growth of GM crops until spring 2003. In the interim, a panel of independent scientists will fully examine the issue. The moratorium has satisfied many critics - they wish for this hiatus until the experts can establish unequivocally that consumers are not putting their health at risk every time they sit down to enjoy a meal.

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