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Because Genetically Engineered Foods May Cause Rising
Food Allergies Buy Organic
The huge jump that has occurred over the past few years in
food allergies among US children has been found in
the news often, but the reports fail to investigate a link to
a recent major change in America’s diet. Starting in
1996, bacteria, virus, and other genes have been artificially
inserted to the DNA of soy, corn, cottonseed, and
canola plants.These extras are unlabeled genetically modified
foods that carry a risk of triggering life-threatening
allergic reactions. Evidence collected over the past decade
suggests that they are part of the problem that is
contributing to higher allergy rates.
Scientists have known for quite some time that GM crops cause
allergies, but there are no tests to prove in
advance that a GM crop is safe. This is because people aren’t
usually allergic to a food until they have eaten
it several times. It is the ethical considerations of feeing
unlabeled, high-risk GM crops to unknowing consumers
that have many people upset. Critics of GM foods often say that
the US population is being used as guinea pigs
in an experiment.
The sad part is, experiments have the benefits of controls
and measurements and, in this case, there is neither.
GM food safety experts point out that even if someone were to
try to collect data about allergic reactions to GM
foods, they would probably not be successful as the potential
allergen is rarely identified and the number of
allergy-related medical visits is not tabulated.
The classical understanding of why a GM crop might create new
allergies is that imported genes produce a
new protein, which has never before been present. This new protein
may trigger reactions. The GM variety that
is planted in 89 percent of US soy acres gets its foreign gene
from bacteria and we do not know in advance if
the protein produce by bacteria will provoke a reaction. As
a precaution, scientists compare these proteins
with others in a database of proteins that are known to cause
allergies. If the new GM crop contains an amino
acid sequence that is found in the allergen database, the GM
crop should either not be commercialized or
additional testing should be done.
Although biotech advocates claim the process of genetic engineering
is precise, this is false. The process of
creating a GM crop can produce massive changes in the natural
functioning of the plant’s DNA. Native genes
can be mutated, deleted,permanently turned on or off, and hundreds
may change their levels of protein
expression damage may result in increasing levels of an existing
allergen, or even producing a completely
new allergen within the crop.
The levels of one known soy allergen, trypsin inhibitor, were
up to twenty-seven percent higher in raw GM soy.
Additionally, cooking soybeans normally reduces the amount of
this protein, the trypsin inhibitor seems to be
more heat resistant, as the levels in cooked GM soy are nearly
as high as those found in raw soy and seven
times higher than cooked non-GM soy. This allergen in GM soy
may be more likely to provoke reactions than
when consumed in natural varieties. Another study concluded
that GM soybeans contain a unique protein that
is not found in non-GM soy controls.
By 2004, farmers used an estimate 86 percent more herbicide
on GM soy fields than compared to non-GM.
These higher levels of herbicide residue in GM soy have been
shown to potentially cause health problems.
Actually, many of the symptoms identified in the United Kingdom
soy allergy study are amongst those symptoms
related to glyphosate exposure.
If proteins survive longer in the digestive tract, then they
have more time to cause an allergic reaction. Studies on
mice showed dramatically reduced levels of pancreatic enzymes
when fed GM soy. If there are less protein-
digesting enzymes available, then food proteins may stay longer
in the gut, which allows for more time to produce
an allergic reaction. A reduction in protein digestion because
of GM soy consumption can promote allergic
reactions to a large range of proteins, not only just the soy.
As of now, no human studies of protein digestion related
to GM soy have been conducted.
There is at least one protein found in natural soybeans that
is cross-reactive with peanut allergies. This means that
consuming soybeans may trigger a reaction for some of those
people who are allergic to peanuts. Although it is
possible that side effects from genetic engineered soybeans
may increase the occurrence of cross-reactivity, it is
unlikely that any research has been done to investigate this.
Genetically engineered soy was introduced into the
United States food supply in late 1996. This leaves us only
to wonder whether this had an influence on the doubling
of peanut allergies that has occurred from the years 1997 to
2002.
The introduction of genetically engineered foods into our diet
was done quietly and without the mandatory labeling
that is required in most of the other industrialized countries.
Without knowing that GM foods might increase the risk
of allergies and without knowing which foods contain GM ingredients,
the biotech industry is gambling with our health
for their own profit. However, this risk is not lost on everyone
as millions of shoppers are now seeking foods that are
free from any GM ingredients.
Organic foods are not allowed to contain GM ingredients. By
buying products that are certified organic or that say
non-GMO are twoways to limit the risk of consuming GM foods.
Another way to avoid those products containing
ingredients from the seven food crops that have been genetically
engineered: soy, corn, cottonseed, canola,
Hawaiian papaya, and a little bit of zucchini and squash. This
also means avoiding soy lecithin in chocolate,
corn syrup in candies, and cottonseed or canola oil in snack
foods.
Thanks to the Campaign for Healthier Eating in America, your
shopping will soon be made easier. This Consumer
Non-GMO Education Campaign is making an effort to clean out
GM ingredients from foods and the natural products
industry. This campaign hopes to circulate helpful non-GMO shopping
guides to organic and natural food stores
nationwide, providing consumers with regular GM food safety
updates that explain the discoveries about GMOs.
About the Author: More information on Organic
Food Manufacture’s is available at VitaNet ®,
LLC Health Food Store. http://vitanetonline.com/
