Engineered crops safe so far, says UN agency
In its strongest endorsement yet of genetically modified food, the United Nations food agency has concluded that enhanced crops are helping poor farmers and have so far been found to be safe.
But most developing countries are missing out on the benefits because private research is concentrated on lucrative cash crops and not the staples needed to feed the world's hungry.
In a report devoted to the controversial issue of biotechnology and food, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said on Monday that the biggest problem was that the technology had not spread fast enough to poor countries and small farmers and had focused mainly on the big commercial crops - cotton, maize, canola and soybeans.
Scientists agreed, the report said, that food derived from transgenic crops was safe to eat, although more study was needed on long-term effects on humans and the environment.
"Biotechnology holds great promise for agriculture in developing countries, but so far only farmers in a few developing countries are reaping these benefits," the report said. Almost all genetically modified foods are grown in six countries - the US, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, China and South Africa.
GM food products face widespread opposition in Europe and parts of Africa, where critics say the long-term health and environmental risks are unknown. Opponents also worry that modified genes can spread to wild plants.
UN officials said GM crops offered advantages that could greatly help farmers and consumers, such as improved nutrition and resistance to insects and drought.
The report said governments should sponsor research into basic crops such as rice, potatoes and cassava, staple foods skirted by the private sector.
The FAO compiled the report to give governments and consumers sound science on a confusing and politically charged issue, UN officials said. While the FAO chief, Jacques Diouf, emphasised that current science showed that transgenic crops were safe to eat, he conceded that "little is known about their long-term effects".
Transgenic crops account for 5 per cent of the world's crop area. Their use was increasing at a rate of about 15 per cent a year, the agency said.
Some transgenic crops are spliced with bacteria genes that allow them to repel pests without pesticides. Others are engineered to produce Vitamin A, to tackle nutritional deficiencies in developing countries.
This week the European Union ended a six-year moratorium on GM foods, finally accepting modified sweet corn for human consumption.
But others still feel such crops are too risky to human health and the environment. Because of deep-rooted suspicion, the Biotech giant Monsanto announced his month that it had cancelled plans to introduce the first variety of GM wheat.
Los Angeles Times