September 2005
No GM Allergies Detected
Despite concerns from some critics of genetically modified crops that the foods may raise consumers' risk of allergic reactions, a new study finds no evidence that this is the case. The study, by researchers in Portugal, adds to evidence that several widely used strains of GM corn and soybean do not promote food allergies. The new study looked at a group of allergy-prone adults and children who had consumed products containing the biotech foods at some point since their approval in Europe.
The researchers at Portugal's National Health Institute in Lisbon gave 77 study participants allergy tests to see whether they reacted differently to the GM corn and soy than they did to conventional varieties. None of them did, according to findings published in the Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology. European countries have been much slower to embrace the GM technology, as consumers there are more wary. One of the concerns some critics have raised is the potential for allergic reactions to the foreign proteins in GM foods; if a gene were transferred from an allergenic source, that could make the resulting GM food more likely to trigger allergies.
The products tested in the current study included two manufactured by Monsanto, a corn variety known as MON 810 that is engineered to resist certain insects, and Roundup® Ready soybeans, which are designed to tolerate the company's Roundup® weed-killer. The researchers also tested two pest-resistant corn varieties made by the Swiss firm Syngenta and one herbicide-tolerant strain manufactured by Germany's Bayer CropSciences. None of these products, the study authors note, contain genes derived from sources known to trigger allergies. Skin prick tests were used to place protein extracts from the corn and soy strains under participants' skin. They found that though adults and children with a history of sensitivity to corn and soy had skin reactions to the extracts, their reactions were the same to GM and non-GM varieties. (Truth About Trade, 9/2/05).
