Is There a Problem with Genetically Modified Foods?
What’s in a name? Ask genetically modified (GM) foods. They go by many names, ranging from the sinister (“Frankenfoods”) to the adoring (“super crops”), depending on who’s doing the naming. Although there are clear benefits to the use of this technology–for example, genetic modification could reduce the amount of allergenic substances in foods such as peanuts, the most common food allergen–there is also growing concern among the general public about whether foods modified by recombining DNA from widely different organisms are safe. A conference titled “Assessment of the Allergenic Potential of Genetically Modified Foods,” organized and sponsored by the National Toxicology Program, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the NIH, was held 10-12 December 2001 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to address this question. Clinicians, bench scientists, government regulators, industry personnel, and policy analysts summarized the current state
