Risk evaluation needed for GM food experts
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Risk evaluation needed for GM food: experts The public's attitude toward genetically modified (GM) food should encompass a greater scope than simply supporting or objecting to the practice, said industry experts.
Despite continued controversy regarding its safety, GM food has found some supporters among the Nobel Prize laureates and other experts attending the third World DNA and Genome Week currently being held in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi.
Richard Roberts, who was awarded the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, said GM food is even safer than traditional food, as its transgenic technology allows for the use of smaller amounts of water and pesticide in harsh environments.
Professor Ian Campbell from Australia's Peter MacCallum Cancer Center agreed, saying that no scientific evidence showing that GM food is harmful to people's health has been presented to date.
Campbell noted that campaigns against GM food in Europe have had political underpinnings.
GM food is widely believed to have the potential to solve global hunger and malnutrition problems, and to help protect and preserve the environment by increasing yields and reducing reliance on chemical pesticides and herbicides.
However, there are many challenges ahead, especially in terms of safety testing, regulation and international policy. Many of the forum's attendees called for more risk evaluation and stricter regulations for GM food and transgenic technology.
Martin Evans, a Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine in 2007, said the belief that transgenic technology is safe is not entirely founded and any conclusion should be based on testing results.
Dr. Alan Christoffels, director of the South African National Bioinformatics Institute, held the same view. He said that since GM food remains a controversial issue, scientists should continue testing to make it safer.
People do not trust GM food because transgenic technology is not well-regulated, said Michael Brower, a senior federal policy director from New York.
Brower said he believes the public should have the right to know which foods are genetically modified, adding that food producers should keep the process transparent for the public. "The comprehensive evaluation of the risks of GM food and the strict regulation of the development of transgenic technology are vital," said Li Xing, a professor at Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University in Xi'an.
Experts warn of GM foods Campaign groups and agriculture experts issued fresh warnings Tuesday about genetically modified (GM) foods. The statements follow a recent announcement of the government's plan to commercialize such domestically produced foods. Rural sectors are being urged to promote the commercialization of new GM foods based on scientific evaluations and management, according to a document issued January 31 by the central committee of the Communist Party of China. And in November, the Ministry of Agriculture for the first time granted safety certificates to domestically produce two types of GM paddy rice and one type of GM corn. The bio-engineered crops are being planted in central Hubei and eastern Shandong Provinces on trial bases and are "expected to be served at Chinese dinner tables within five years," Zhang Qifa, a professor at Huazhong Agricultural University who studies GM rice, told the Xinhua News Agency. GM plants, often created to resist pests and insect damage, can indirectly improve output, and GM products are relatively cheaper than traditional foods. A survey conducted by the official People's Daily website last month polled 50,000 Web users, 84.3 percent of whom said they wouldn't risk their health by buying GM foods, while only 14.2 percent said they would try such foods. "Rice is the staple food for Chinese people. The government should take a prudent approach toward GM food. We are extremely worried about the risk of GM food to people's health," Fang Lifeng, Greenpeace China spokesman, told the Global Times. A report released by the World Health Organization in October 2002 suggested that "GM foods and their safety should be assessed on a case-by-case basis, and it is not possible to make general statements on the safety of all GM foods." "If the world has not reached a consensus on GM food safety, it would be too proactive and risky to commercialize GM crops on a large scale," Zheng Fengtian, vice dean of the Rural and Agricultural Development Institute at the People's Uni-versity of China, was quoted by Xinhua as saying.