Common Sense on Biotechnology
By Michael F. Jacobson(*)
My organization, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, has waged many
campaigns over the last three decades to improve the nutritional quality and safety of our food.
From advocating nutrition labeling to attacking olestra and sulfites, we know how to publicize
problems. Predictably, weve been vilified more than once on this page.
But the campaign we have not joined is the one aimed at halting agricultural
biotechnology and genetically engineered foods. While biotechnology is not a panacea for every
nutritional and agricultural problem, it is a powerful tool to increase food production, protect the
environment, improve the healthfulness of foods, and produce valuable pharmaceuticals. It
should not be rejected cavalierly.
Too many biotech critics have resorted to alarming the public about purported
environmental and food risks. For example, one environmental group has stated: If deadly
toxins that kill butterflies are being introduced into our food supply, what effect are these toxins
having on you and your family? Is it possible that these toxins will build up over time in our
systems? If so, what effect will they have? The scary answer is that no one really knows.
Actually, we do know: The Environmental Protection Agency and others have concluded that the
toxins approved for human consumption have no adverse effect on health.
While current biotech crops have not been shown to cause any health problem and only
minor environmental disturbances, they have begun to yield major benefits. Biotech cotton, for
instance, has reduced insecticide usage by more than two million pounds a year. That saves a lot
of beneficial insects (not just butterflies) and reduces farmers exposure to dangerous chemicals.
Biotech cotton also has meant higher profits for farmers.
Likewise, soybeans engineered with immunity to certain herbicides have allowed farmers
to replace more-toxic herbicides, which pollute water, with relatively benign ones and to reduce
soil erosion. And in Hawaii, biotech papayas resistant to a devastating virus are saving that
industry.
In developing countries, biotechnology will protect sweet potatoes from viruses, increase
yields of rice, and reduce contamination in corn from mold-produced carcinogens. Some critics
complain that biotechnologys promise has not yet been widely fulfilled in those nations. That
however, does not constitute a compelling indictment of this emerging technology. Who would
have predicted the Internet from the meager beginnings of home computers?
Of course, not all the fruits of biotechnology deserve a place on the dinner table. Used
injudiciously, biotechnology could wreak havoc: weeds resistant to herbicides, novel toxins or
allergens in foods, pesticide-bearing crops that kill beneficial insects, and loss of genetic
diversity. And in developing nations it could jeopardize the livelihoods of small farmers.
James D. Watson, co-discoverer of the structure of DNA, makes a telling point: [N]ever
put off doing something useful for fear of evil that may never arrive. Instead of worrying about
every remotely imaginable problem and suffering with todays known problems caused by
conventional agriculture we need a coherent system to reap the benefits and avoid any
problems. Regulatory improvements are essential to building public confidence in biotechnology
a goal that industry on its own has been unable to attain.
Last week, the Food and Drug Administration took a useful step forward by proposing a
mandatory review system. While mandatory approvals would bolster public confidence more
than reviews, the agency says it doesnt have the authority to require that. Ironically, the biotech
and processed-food industries oppose formal approvals for FDA-regulated foods, even though
they manage fine at the EPA, which has just such a system for plants engineered to produce
pesticides.
The National Academy of Sciences and others have found that significant gaps abound in
EPAs system. Even so, the basic structures are there and need only to be strengthened by the
agency or, where necessary, by Congress. But the FDAs statutes were written long before
genetic engineering was developed and need to be updated.
The FDA also proposed guidelines for making voluntary label claims like made without
genetic engineering. That wont satisfy critics demand that labels of engineered foods declare
contains genetically engineered ingredients, a statement that few companies would agree to put
on their products. It would, however, help consumers choose non-engineered foods. Later,
labels could be required for engineered foods themselves, provided they would not significantly
increase costs or convey inferiority.
For both humanitarian and selfish reasons, the biotech industry should join with others to
support the sound measures that would help rescue the technology from doubt and controversy.
For starters, Congress should give the FDA a legal mandate to review safety data on
biotech foods, provide opportunities for public comment, and explain its decisions in the Federal
Register. Also, Congress should invest more heavily in biotechnology research and development
to bring more beneficial products and methods into the public domain. We need to develop
better pre-approval testing methods and to conduct post-approval monitoring of products. And,
biotechnology aside, to help farmers survive, we should encourage organic and sustainable
methods, which are environmentally and socially sound and, unlike much farming, often highly
profitable.
Furthermore, the United States and the biotech industry must provide generous
assistance to the developing world, where the need for food is greatest. We should help scientists
develop locally appropriate products that benefit consumers, the environment, and small farmers,
as well as help governments strengthen their oversight agencies.
Sensible reform would overcome the extremism of both industry and its critics in a way
most beneficial to the public interest.
* Michael F. Jacobson, Ph.D., is the executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nonprofit consumer-advocacy group funded by its members and foundations.
This opinion piece originally appeared in the Wall Street Journal on January 25,
2001.
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