No evidence to prove GM foods are unsafe, says BMA
Britain, the country's medical body said this week it sees no
'current evidence of potential harm from GM food'.
But although the British Medical Association holds the view that there is no robust evidence to prove that GM foods are unsafe, the group called for further research and surveillance to provide 'convincing evidence of safety and benefit'.
The statement from the BMA comes just a day after the UK government announced to a cynical public that it would agree 'in principle' to cultivating GM maize, a move that has angered consumer and environmental organisations.
The BMA draws attention to some areas of uncertainty that warrant further investigation, but stressed the potential benefits of GM food.
Sir David Carter, chairman of the BMA's board of science said: "Our assessment of all the available research is that there is very little potential for GM foods to cause harmful health effects. However the BMA recognises the huge public concern over the impact of GM foods and believes that research is still needed in key areas to allay remaining concern about the potential risks to human health and the environment."
We have to move away from the hysteria that has often been associated with GM foods and judge each genetically modified crop on a case-by-case basis, added Carter, endorsing a calm approach to the debate.
Closely tracking the subject, in 1999 the BMA produced an interim report, the new publication this week "Genetically modified foods and health: a second interim statement" is an update of that report.
Key areas for further research identified in the report include: food allergies, genetic transfer and risk assessment.
'Work is still needed to elucidate the potential for genetically modified foods to cause food allergies. This is especially important when producing GM crops based on foods already known to cause allergies such as nuts, wheat and soyabean,' said the BMA.
Speaking before Parliament on Tuesday the UK's environment secretary Margaret Beckett said the government-backed science review had concluded that there was no scientific case for ruling out all GM crops or products.
"We should agree in principle to the commercial cultivation of GM herbicide-tolerant maize," Beckett told MP's, adding that approval could come as early as Spring 2005.
