Printed in the Honolulu Advertiser

Letters to the Editor, Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Genetically Modified Foods Have Benefits

The March 16 letter by Lorrin Pang states that the safety of GE (genetically engineered) foods is unknown, according to the World Health Organization.

To the contrary, WHO's in-depth, evidence-based study in 2005 concludes that "GM foods currently available on the international market have undergone risk assessments and are not likely to present risks for human health any more than their conventional counterparts."

This assessment is in line with that of other major scientific organizations that have found GM foods to be safe, including the National Academy of Sciences, American Medical Association, American Dietetic Association and the Society of Toxicology.

In 2000, the AMA report on GM foods noted that attempts to introduce GM foods have stimulated not a reasoned debate, but a potent negative campaign by people with other agendas.

The well-documented benefits of GM crops and foods keep multiplying, while the risks remain almost entirely hypothetical and even contrived. Let's hope we are not denied further benefits by those with other agendas.

Harold Keyser
Maui County Administrator, College of Tropical and Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawai'i