Biotechnology is booming in the U.S. despite storm of controversy elsewhere in the world

WASHINGTON — Biotechnology is booming in this country.

There are now 50 biotech foods including corn, canola, squash, tomato and sugar beets. Global plantings increased 20 per cent in 2001. But despite the trend to biotech foods, the international debate over the food’s safety continues.

“European concerns continue after mad-cow disease spread general fear about food safety,” Linda Thrane, executive director of the Washington-based Council for Biotechnology Information, noted in an interview.

The recent case of Zambia, where the government rejected biotech corn from the United States while millions of Zambians were starving, highlights the politics of biotechnology.

Elliot Entis, chief executive officer of Aqua Bounty Farms, a U.S. biotech firm that produces trans-genetic salmon, argued that Europe swayed the Zambians against a biotech staple that Americans have been safely eating for years.

Thrane agreed, noting the European point of view has been pervasive in Africa and Asia. “In a painful way it highlights the issues that need to be addressed in Europe and Africa,” she said.

But the Zambian issue is also close to home for some Americans who didn't realize until the story broke that they had been eating biotech corn.

Entis said the regulatory debate was over in the US in the 1980s, but others disagreed.

Officials at the Center for Science in the Public Interest said while it is clear from tests and consumption that biotech corn is safe, the regulatory regime is still inadequate. According to the center, there is nothing stopping a company from making and selling any biotech food in the U.S. without the approval of the Food and Drug Administration.

The FDA has an approval process for food additives, but it does not approve the safety of biotechnology products, officials at the center said. Biotech foods are reviewed to see if they differ from regular foods but the assessment is not mandatory.

Despite this, Linda Thrane asserted that the system is a rigorous one. “It’s not that the system is broken, it’s that it needs to get better,” she said. And even if the system is not mandatory, the power of marketing makes FDA involvement a must, she added.

One product, StarLink, a genetically modified corn, became suddenly infamous two years ago when it was detected in taco shells. Hundreds of food products were recalled and newspaper reports estimated the debacle would wind up costing hundreds of millions of dollars.