Food & Water Watch Report Critical of GE Products
A new Food & Water Watch report claims that the “genetic engineering [GE]
of crops and animals for human consumption is not the silver bullet approach
for feeding a growing population that the agribusiness and biotechnology
industries claim it is. Conversely, studies find that GE plants and animals do
not perform better than their traditional counterparts and raise a slew of
health, environmental and ethical concerns.”
According to the consumer watchdog, potential GE food risks include
“increased food allergies and unknown long term health effects in humans;
the rise of superweeds that have become resistant to GE-affiliated herbicides;
the ethical and economic concerns involved with the patenting of life and
corporate consolidation of the seed supply; and the contamination of organic
and non-GE crops and livestock through cross-pollination and seed dispersal.”
Food & Water Watch recommends that U.S. regulators (i) “enact a moratorium on new U.S. approvals of genetically engineered plants and animals; (ii) “institute the precautionary principle for GE foods”; (iii) “develop new regulatory framework for biotech foods”; (iv) “improve agency coordination and increase post-market regulation”; (v) “require mandatory labeling of GE foods”; and (vi) “shift liability of GE contamination to seed patent holders.” See Food & Water Watch News Release, September 29, 2011.
