The US National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has released a report saying that genetically modified crops pose no health risks to the people to consume them, or, at least, no greater risk than conventionally grown crops pose to consumers. NAS also suggests that the federal government need not impose special food safety regulations on genetically engineered crops, and that GM foods currently on the market are safe.
While the NAS report says that there are occasions on which the government should mandate reviews of foods produced using genetically modified organisms (GMOs), those instances should be on a case-by-case basis.
The report was commissioned by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and written by a committee made up mostly of scientists.
Jennifer Hillard, a consumer advocate who was on the committee that drafted the report, said in a telephone news conference that "the most important message from this report is that it's the product that matters, not the system you are using to produce it.”
While the NAS report says that there are occasions on which the government should mandate reviews of foods produced using genetically modified organisms (GMOs), those instances should be on a case-by-case basis.
The report was commissioned by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and written by a committee made up mostly of scientists.
Jennifer Hillard, a consumer advocate who was on the committee that drafted the report, said in a telephone news conference that "the most important message from this report is that it's the product that matters, not the system you are using to produce it.”
- KC's View:
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We’re dubious, to be honest, whether this report will change anyone’s mind. Pro-GMO folks will see it as proof of their position, and anti-GMO folks will dismiss it as propaganda.
We tend to fall in with the former, though with some reservations. Our major concern is that science be the determinant, not preconceptions.
