Associated Press | October 8, 1999 | By PHILIP BRASHER, AP Farm Writer
WASHINGTON - The US federal agencies responsible for approving genetically engineered crops and biotech foods were cited as insisting they can prevent products from getting to market that could be dangerous to consumers or the environment.
James Maryanski, biotechnology coordinator for the Food and Drug Administration's food safety office was quoted as saying, "We're very confident about the assurances that are put forward."
Jane Anderson, an EPA official, was cited as telling the Senate Agriculture Committee on Thursday that the government's regulatory system "is based on the most rigorous scientific information available, is credible, is defensible and will serve to protect the environment and public health."
The story notes that although genetic engineering has met relatively little resistance in the United States, concern about the technology has grown since a laboratory study at Cornell University found evidence that pollen from a genetically modified corn can kill larvae of the monarch butterfly.
EPA scientists knew that the pollen could kill insects but do not believe the butterflies, which feed on milkweed, not corn, would be exposed to the toxin outside the laboratory, said Anderson, director of EPA's biopesticides and pollution prevention division.
EPA is monitoring field tests of the corn and could impose restrictions on its use, if necessary, she said.
Critics of the technology say the agencies depend too heavily on companies to conduct research and report problems, and that the science is not advanced enough to guarantee the safety of the food. Environmental and consumer groups are pushing the Clinton administration to require the labeling of foods that contain biotech ingredients. Mark Silbergeld, a representative of Consumers Union, was quoted as saying, "We don't know what the products will prove to be in the long run. To say we know is an expression of faith, not of knowledge."
