Biotech corn study raises safety questions
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www.capitalpress.info/main.asp?SectionID=67&subsectionID=616&articleID=18073Cookson Beecher
Washington State Staff Writer
Recent publicity surrounding a Monsanto study on a biotech corn variety, MON 863, has raised questions about whether eating the corn could harm human health.
The 1,139-page study was released by Monsanto after a German court earlier this month granted the environmental organization Greenpeace access to the study.
According to the study, rats that were fed MON 863 had smaller kidneys and elevated levels of white blood cells and lymphocytes compared to those that were fed conventional corn.
An expert in molecular genetics at Guy�s Hospital Medical School told a reporter from The Independent (UK) newspaper that the findings were worrisome from a medical point of view and that he was amazed at the number of significant differences found in the two groups of rats.
Monsanto dismissed the differences in the rats as meaningless, pointing out that the results reflected normal variations in rats.
Chris Horner of Monsanto said that in any group of rats, there will be variations and that the study�s results fell within the tolerances for those variations.
�They did not indicate any adverse health impacts,� he said.
Shel Weinberg, a board member of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements and an international consultant based in Anacortes, Wash., said that if there are health risks associated with MON 863, it would be an important milestone in differentiating GMOs (genetically modified organisms) from non-GMOs.
Pointing out that worldwide, the regulatory stance on GMO crops is that they aren�t different enough from conventional crops to warrant being regulated under a different set of standards once they've successfully gone through a scientific screening process, Weinberg said that the study could provide a reason for GMO crops to be regulated differently.
In the United States, the federal Food and Drug Administration regulates food products based on the characteristics of the food and its intended use, rather than how it has been produced.
�This is an important one to watch,� Weinberg said.
Monsanto is seeking approval to import the biotech corn into the European Union for use in processed foods and derived food products.
The European Food Safety Authority, which examined all the available data about MON 863, including the 90-day rat feeding study, approved MON 863 for use in the European Union in April 2004. In doing so, it said that placing it on the market �is unlikely to have an adverse effect on human and animal health or on the environment in the context of its proposed use.�
However, a vote last month by the European Union failed to secure agreement over whether the product should be sold there, even though Britain and nine other countries voted in favor.
The European Commission now has the power to approve MON 863 on behalf of the member states.
The recent publicity surrounding the Monsanto report is expected to intensify the call for more research to be done on the corn.
Dr. Brian John of GM-free Cymru said it would be �irresponsible and cynical in the extreme� to pass the corn for human consumption.
MON 863 has been modified to protect itself against corn rootworm, which Monsanto says is �one of the most pernicious pests affecting maize crops around the world.�
The USDA estimates that the pest causes $1 billion in lost revenue each year to the U.S. corn crop.
A Monsanto spokesman said that MON 863 isn�t new � that it has been approved to be as safe as conventional corn by more than 10 global authorities since 2003.
In the United States and Canada, farmers have been growing MON 863 corn since 2003.
Monsanto, based in St. Louis, Mo., is the world�s leading developer of genetic modified corn, soybean, cotton and canola crops.
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