Farm Focus | December 17,1999 | Dan Woolley
Veteran Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada plant breeder, Dr. Bert Christie is, according to this story,unsatisfied with the answers he is getting about the safety of genetically modified food.
The research scientist emeritus at AAFC's Charlottetown research station, says when he asks his scientific colleagues if GM food is safe, he gets responses that range from, "Why shouldn't it be safe?" to, "They are tested very intensively," to "There are risks in everything you do."
The story says that when he asked Dr. Doug Powell, a GMO advocate at the University of Guelph, for scientific references on genetic modification he received very few references pertaining to GM food.
Dr. Christie notes when the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development asked research scientists to look at GM food testing, there were no good food tests.
Christie was cited as saying he has not found any feeding trails on GM food in scientific literature, only field trials and chemical analyses.
Of 22 GM trials he examined on a web site, Dr. Christie found only seven with any toxicity tests. He says, without extensive testing, we will not know the side effects of GM food. If the risks or benefits of eating GM food are not known: "why should I take that risk?"
Dr. Christie was quoted as advising multi-national agri-businesses and bio-technology advocates that, "You may have to lose some skirmishes over GM food if you want to win the battle over food safety. If you are not willing to concede that this controversy will continue."
He sees no benefit to consumers as there is no superior GM food product in the market. Neither, does he see any discernible benefit to farmers in GM crops.
Christie was cited as saying that the only group that seems to be doing well from GM food are the large agri-business corporations, adding, "They seem to be doing quite well, thank you."
When asked why he would expect GM plants to be any different from plants that are bred by the usual means, Christie responds, "I don't know. That is one of the things that bothers me."
