AMA: Gene-Altered Foods Appear Safe

A key committee presented Sunday its finding of a yearlong study on safety aspects of so-called Frankenfoods – and declared that they appeared safe.

"People have been modifying crop plants for centuries," said Dr. Roy Altman, a rheumatologist from the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Miami, and a member of the AMA's Council on Scientific Affairs. "The difference now is in the way the crops are altered."

Sophisticated technology is used to add genes to plants that help them ward off pests, reducing the need for environmentally damaging pesticides and producing hardier and more appetizing food.

"Many products derived from corn and soybeans, in particular, have been on the shelves of United States grocery stores during this time period," said Dr. Michael Williams, chairman of the council, "without any apparent unintended or ill effects."

Altman said that European activists, fueled by general food safety fears, have mounted a crusade in opposition to genetically altered foods. He said the goal of the council's report was to convince people that the foods are good for people and won't harm the environment. In testimony before the AMA's House of Delegates' committee on science and technology, Altman said the council report "is aimed at educating people from the scientific point of view."

Among a series of recommendations to the main legislative body of the AMA, holding its "interim" meeting in Orlando, was a request that the federal regulatory body, the Food and Drug Administration, continue its oversight of the use of genetically altered foods.

But, Altman said, the council also said that the AMA should "recognize the many potential benefits offered by genetically modified crops and foods, not support a moratorium on planting genetically modified crops and encourage ongoing research developments in food biotechnology."

Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, a medical officer with the office of the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and an observer at the AMA meeting, said the agency was working with manufacturers to developing voluntary labeling of genetically altered foods with an eye toward educating consumers.

He said there was no known case in which a genetically altered food crop that has been approved for sale has caused harm to any person. There were some calls for caution in accepting the council's report, but no outright opposition to the recommendations was offered at the hearing. The science and technology committee will consider the testimony heard on the topic and will make recommendations as to whether to accept, reject, or amend the council's report.

Later this week that report will be presented to the House of Delegates for its decision. The AMA, with 290,000 members, is the world's largest medical association. Its decisions, while not having weight on law in most areas, may influence governmental policies.

Copyright 2000 by United Press International.