Sir--The controversy over genetically modified (GM) foods was a deciding factor in the proposal for a European Food Agency. In the UK, a report on the health implications of GM foods (www.doh.gov.uk/gmfood.htm ) con cludes that "there is no current evidence that GM technologies used to produce food are inherently harmful"; this is true, but one cannot conclude that all applications will be harmless.
The insecticide criendotoxin is not harmful when used judiciously as a spray. Much larger quantities would be consumed from plants making the toxin after the incorporation of the bacterial gene, Bt. Another potential problem is that the promoter used to switch on any gene after it has been transferred might also switch on one of the many silent genes that form part of the normal DNA. A third uncertainty is the importance of the finding that foreign DNA ingested by mice may reach peripheral leucocytes, spleen, and liver via the intestinal-wall mucosa.1 A gene that has been transferred may be incorporated in an unpredictable place in the genome.
People in some countries, particularly the USA, already eat a lot of GM foods. People in the UK do not. If GM foods are bad to eat, a robust study relating consumption to health records should show the adverse effects. Such studies would entail comparisons between regions and groups as well as between countries. There would be problems of comparability and of controls. In September, 1999, I advocated such a study to a subgroup of the UK's Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes (ACNFP) and to a group advising the Research Directorate General of the European Commission on GM organisms research.
ACNFP is considering a feasibility study proposed by Paul Elliott (http//maffweb/inf/newsrel/acnfp/acnfp1499.htm) for linking the domestic health records, broken down by census ward level, to data on household purchasing patterns. This study would focus on all novel foods. However, since GM foods are scarcely being consumed in the UK or the EU, such a study in Europe would be unlikely to detect any effects of GM foods.
The health data of the National Center for Health Statistics in the USA are not so geographically specific, being mainly collated at the state level. Data on health could be recorded to allow comparison with the UK.
People on the two sides of the Atlantic have so far tended to take very different views on GM foods. However, the new Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue finds that the Americans are now becoming more worried about GM foods. The US agriculture secretary has spoken on the need for unbiased research on the safety of GM crops.2 The US Food and Drug Administration has just held the first public forum on GM foods. The Consumers' Union demands that these foods be labelled. With such labelling, a prospective epidemiological study would become possible, along the lines envisaged by the ACNFP.
Collaboration between the EU and the USA would give a rational basis for the protection that the citizens of both need and might avert a trade war over GM foods. It would be a basis for including health in the agenda for the new round of the World Trade Organisation.
John Godfrey
41 Lawford Road, London, NW5 2LG, UK
1 Schubbert R, Renze D, Schmitz B, Doerfler W. Foreign (M13) DNA ingested by mice reaches peripheral leukocytes, spleen, and liver via the intestinal wall mucosa and can be covalently linked to mouse DNA. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1997; 94: 961-66 [PubMed].
2 Reichardt T. US sends mixed message in GM debate. Nature 1999; 400: 298 [PubMed].
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