From: Spudboy100@aol.com
Date: Thu May 08 2003 - 06:50:51 MDT
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3007573.stm
GM foods 'not harmful'
By Ivan Noble
BBC News Online science staff
Britain's academy of science, the Royal Society, says there is no evidence
that eating GM food is any more harmful than eating non-GM food.
The UK Government is sponsoring a review of GM science
The society says in a submission to the UK Government's GM review that
although the technology could lead to "unpredicted harmful changes in the
nutritional status of foods", the same is true of conventional crop breeding.
It says the chances of GM crops and foods triggering allergic reactions are
in principle no worse than the chances of non-GM plants doing the same.
A senior member of the Royal Society attacked one environmental protest group
for what he said was a failure to provide evidence to back up the assertion
that GM food was dangerous.
'Smokescreen of claims'
"The public have a right to decide whether they want to buy GM foods, and are
entitled to have access to sensible and informed advice, based on sound
science.
"It is disappointing to find a group like Greenpeace stating on its website
that 'the risks are enormous and the consequences potentially catastrophic',
without offering any solid reasons to support such a claim," said Professor
Patrick Bateson, the Royal Society's Vice-President and Biological Secretary.
"Undoubtedly some important questions need to be answered about the potential
impact, good or bad, of GM crops on the environment.
"But these should be addressed without a smokescreen of unfounded claims
about their threat to human health," he said.
Professor Bateson acknowledged that the majority of the British public was
opposed to GM foods.
Consumers had been frightened by unsubstantiated claims but GM developers had
also failed to convince them that GM foods products had benefits, he said.
'Pet technologies'
A spokesman for Greenpeace UK rejected the attack and criticised the Royal
Society's role in the GM debate.
"Greenpeace commissioned and published a major report from the University of
Wageningen on the uncertainties and unknowns around GM crops.
"This has been submitted to the science review and it's a pity Professor
Bateson hasn't read it.
"But then the Royal Society are gaining a reputation as campaigners for their
pet technologies," he said
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Thu May 08 2003 - 07:03:18 MDT