Lawsuit Unleashes Documents Alleging FDA Covered up Risks of GMOs Since 1991
Derrick Broze
(ANTIMEDIA) A
previously unreleased set of Food and Drug Administration documents
related to genetically engineered (GE or GMO) foods alleges the agency
was aware of possible risks to humans as far back as 1991.
The documents were released through a lawsuit filed by Steven Druker,
a public interest attorney and executive director of the Alliance for
Bio-Integrity (ABI). Druker obtained a reported 44,000 pages of
messages, memos, and reports from the FDA. Twenty-four of the most
damaging documents are highlighted on ABI’s website and in Druker’s recent book, Altered Genes, Twisted Truth.
Within the documents are several key pieces of information. First, in the FDA’s “Statement of Policy: Foods Derived From New Plant Varieties,”
dated May 29, 1992, the agency stated it was “not aware of any
information” showing these products differ “in any meaningful way” from
other food, despite memos showing researchers did, indeed, still have
questions about the safety of GE foods.
One FDA compliance officer wrote that the agency “was
trying to fit a square peg into a round hole … [by] trying to force an
ultimate conclusion that there is no difference between foods modified
by genetic engineering and foods modified by traditional breeding
practices.” She then stated that “The processes of genetic
engineering and traditional breeding are different, and according to
technical experts in the agency, they lead to different risks.”
